


That Girl's a Genius

by wickedspeed



Category: Ghostbusters (2016)
Genre: F/F, rated m because eventual holtzbert action
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-30
Updated: 2017-07-09
Packaged: 2018-08-18 17:11:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 32,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8169560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wickedspeed/pseuds/wickedspeed
Summary: Fired from Columbia, in debt to her former friend, and faced with the reality that ghosts are indeed real, Dr. Erin Gilbert has quite a bit on her plate already.  Still, all that would be easy to handle in comparison to the job currently staring her in the face: break one Dr. Jillian Holtzmann out of the supermax wing in Sing Sing prison.Abby was wrong.  No amount of wontons would ever make this okay.





	1. Chapter 1

Fired.

The word repeated itself over and over, stabbing Dr. Erin Gilbert like a knife every time.

Fired.

She had gone in sure she was being interviewed for tenure. Instead, she was being told to clear out her office, and all because of a stupid book. A book she had written years ago and had tried so desperately to escape.

Now she was sitting in a cab on her way to the Kenneth P. Higgins Institute, and when she arrived, she would be fired, if she hadn’t already been. If Columbia ever reconsidered and rehired her, they would fire her again because she was about to murder Dr. Abby Yates.

Dr. Abigail Yates. Her once-friend, but now… well, Erin supposed she had caused this, but Abby didn’t understand, she wouldn’t listen to reason. Erin had to abandon that book, she had to… if she had followed through, if she had presented it to the world—

_I would still be right here, except I would have Abby by my side, instead of being alone._

No, she couldn’t think that way right now. If Abby had just listened to her…

“Hey lady did you hear me? I said we’re here.”

“What—oh. Thanks.” Erin handed over a few bills before she stepped out of the cab, ignoring the underwhelming entrance to the Kenneth P. Higgins Institute as she strode forward.

_Just think murder and walk._

It must have worked because students were practically vaulting over tables to get out of her way as the physicist made her way through the hallways and down to the basement. She didn’t even bother to knock on the door bearing Abby’s name before she barged in.

“Took you long enough to get here, I’ve been waiting an hour.”

That all too familiar voice only made Erin angrier, and she pushed past the curtain, her gaze falling on one Dr. Abby Yates.

“You.”

Abby paused at the voice and her gaze narrowed upon seeing Erin. “Erin.”  
In two steps, Erin closed the distance between them, and Abby seemed to realize her intentions, prompting the brunette to quickly move to the other side of the table.

“Erin, wait—“

“You!” Erin began to chase Abby around the table.

“Look, I don’t know why you’re so upset—

“Your book got me fired!”

“Our book, you mean!”

“Yes, OUR BOOK! My name was on that too Abby, how could you do this to me?!” Erin had given up trying to catch Abby, and picked up the nearest item on the table.

“Erin, don’t—“

The redhead didn’t listen and lobbed the item at the brunette, which Abby quickly ducked to avoid.

“How could you publish that book behind my back?!”

“I didn’t realize I needed your permission—“

Erin hurled a second object at Abby, and it shattered against the wall behind her.

“I was FIRED! Do you understand that, Abby?! Years of hard work for NOTHING!” The redhead picked up a smaller electronic, causing Abby to gasp.

“Okay, I get it, you’re upset, but please Erin, I am begging you, please don’t break that.”

“Oh, now you’re begging me? That’s funny, because I seem to remember asking you not to publish our book!”

“Erin, please, I can’t replace that—“

“And I can’t get my job back! So I guess we’re both shit out of luck!” Erin threw the electronic as hard as she could, watching it smash into quite a few pieces on the floor.

“No!”

The pieces sparked a few times, and Abby let out a frustrated sigh.

“Damn it Erin!” The brunette looked at her, fire blazing in her eyes. “You have no idea what I had to do to get my hands on that!”

“Well, I don’t care!” Honestly, Erin was starting to feel guilt creeping into her gut. Yelling at Abby was one thing, but now she had moved into actively breaking Abby’s possessions… The redhead watched the brunette as she knelt on the floor, shaking her head at the destroyed pieces.

_I should just leave now, just leave before the guilt becomes crushingly overwhelming._

“What was it?” Erin heard herself asking.

_Damn it!_

“It was a prototype PKE meter; the only one of its kind, until you destroyed it.”

“A… a PKE meter?” Oh god. Abby had done it. She had actually done it. She had managed to get her hands on a PKE meter… if it had actually worked…

_No, stop it! You don’t care about PKE meters or those THINGS associated with them._

“Yes, a PKE meter.” Abby straightened up with another sigh. “And thanks to you, I’m back to square one.”

Erin crossed her arms as the guilt only built inside her, but she remained silent.

“Now I will have to call Aldridge Mansion and tell them that I can’t help with their gho—“

“Don’t say it.”

Abby didn’t look pleased at being interrupted. “Their ghost problem.”

There it was. That word. The one that had haunted her both literally and figuratively since the age of eight.

“They don’t exist…” Erin said, though her voice was quiet, and shook a bit.

“Erin, you know better than anyone that that isn’t true.”

“Then where’s the proof Abby?”

“I was about to get some until you went berserk and smashed my equipment!”

“Oh…” Erin bit her bottom lip as the two stood in awkward silence. “Um… is… is there something I can do to… you know… fix this?”  
“Can you develop and build a new PKE meter?”

“… No.”

“How about a time machine?”

“Look Abby…” Erin wanted to apologize, but that would mean admitting she was in the wrong; besides she had come down here to get an apology out of Abby, not the other way around.

“Just go.”

Erin knew she should; she even took a few steps towards the door, but stopped, turning back to her former friend. “Look, I didn’t mean to ruin your… whatever you’re working on here…”

“I know Erin; you just have a temper.” Abby let out another sigh, rubbing her eyes.

“Can… can I at least… I don’t know, buy you dinner?”

Abby gave the physicist a look. “I won’t settle for anything less than wonton soup.”

Erin nodded. “Deal.”

-/-

“… and another thing: Garrett said the door had been sealed for years, but that night, it was open.”

Erin nodded, only half listening to Abby’s story. It had taken two cases of wonton soup and a fully loaded pizza before the brunette had even begun to consider forgiving her, and now Abby was telling her all about Aldridge Mansion.

“I’m telling you Erin, this could be a class IV apparition.”

That caught Erin’s attention. “Class IV? But that means they know the identity…”

“Exactly! If we could get that on tape—“

“We could prove everything we’ve ever written about.”

Abby was smiling now. “There’s the Erin I remember.”

The redhead realized she had become caught up in the moment, and had let an old spark resurface. “I mean… that’s even if this Garrett is telling the truth…”

“He seemed pretty terrified. I was told he crapped his pants.”

Erin wrinkled her nose. “He actually said that?”

“Not in those words, but I knew what he meant.”

Silence stretched between them, and Erin could feel the awkward tension that still hung between them.

“Abby—“

“Look, I’m sorry you got fired, but this could be a sign,” Abby said. “A sign that you and I… we… well…”

Oh no. “Abby, I can’t go back to that—“

“Why not? Erin, you’re brilliant; think of what you could accomplish in this field. You and I are right on the edge of a world-shattering discovery, and I know how much you love being on the edge.”

“I do,” Erin admitted. She knew she shouldn’t let herself be dragged back into this… but a small part of her couldn’t help it. What Abby was proposing was exciting, no doubt, but still… “How would we even go about it Abby? According to you, I broke all your necessary equipment.”

“Yeah, that was pretty rude of you.”

“Abby—

“Look, you want to make this up to me? Come with me to Aldridge Mansion and investigate with me.”

“Make this up to you—what about you making up for what you did to me?”

“What did I do?”

“You got me fired! Or did you forget that part?”

“Erin, if this investigation pans out, you and I will be set for life. Don’t you understand? All our work will finally be validated. People won’t be able to ignore us or belittle our work anymore.”

Erin let out a sigh; the prospect was enticing of course, but still… going back to that life, the life she had tried so hard to escape…

“All right,” the redhead found herself saying. “We’ll go to Aldridge Mansion; I mean, what’s the worst that could happen?”

-/-

“Since we have no official equipment to measure any paranomal readings, we have to hope that whatever scared that tour guide comes out so we can film it.”

Erin let out a sigh. It was hard to call themselves “professionals” when they had little more equipment than a video camera at their disposal. “Abby, that didn’t work when we were young; what makes you think it’ll work now?”

The brunette turned to face her companion, almost running into her. “Because this time, someone else saw the ghost first.”

A pause, and then, “Well that’s not exactly the best criteria.”

Abby rolled her eyes and turned back around, continuing to make her way through the house. “There’s the basement door; it’s sealed up now. Garrett said it opened on its own the night he was last here.”

Erin let out a noise of acknowledgement, feeling her shoe slip on something on the floor. The redhead paused and looked down at her shoe, seeing that whatever she had stepped in was green and a bit slimy.

“What…?”

A creaking noise caught her attention, and Erin looked up to see that the basement door was now open. Her brow furrowed a bit before she realized what was going on.

“All right Abby, very funny,” the physicist said as she began to approach the darkened basement. “Tell me the door’s been sealed and that it opens all on its own and then—“ Erin was cut off by her foot meeting nothing but air; whatever staircase had been there was gone now, and the redhead found herself falling towards the basement floor. She managed to catch a piece of wood still attached to the doorframe, but it creaked dangerously, threatening to break.

“Abby!” she shouted, her legs scrambling against the stone wall in a desperate attempt to find something to push herself up on. “Abby!”

“What’s wrong now you big baby—oh shit!” Abby quickly ran to where Erin was, throwing herself on the ground in an attempt to catch the redhead’s wrists.

She instead landed a few feet short of her destination.

“Oh, shoot.” Abby crawled over to her friend, quickly taking one hand, and then the other. “What happened? How did you open the basement door?”

“I didn’t open it, I thought you did it to play a joke on me,” Erin replied. “Pull me up!”

“I’m trying! You could help, you know.”

Erin’s feet slid uselessly against the wall as she struggled to pull herself up. “God, I should have gone to the gym more often.” The physicist became aware of a blue light beginning to fill the room, and she saw Abby’s eyes go wide behind her glasses. “What? What is it?”

“Did you feel that? Did you ears pop too?”

They had. “A definite AP-xH shift.”

“Oh god, where’s the camera—“

“Pull me up first!”

With a final heave and much grunting, Abby managed to pull the redhead back up into the hallway, where Erin scrambled as far from the basement door as she could get, her heart pounding. Abby meanwhile had gone for the camera, turning it towards the basement door just as the spectral form of a young woman emerged. Erin found herself holding her breath as she stared, hardly able to believe what she was seeing.

“A Class IV, distinct human apparition,” Abby breathed.

A ghost. A real, honest-to-god ghost, and this time, Erin knew this one was real because Abby was seeing it too. And if Abby was seeing it too, then that meant Erin had been right all along. Her parents, her therapist, all the kids at school; they had all called her crazy, and Erin had even begun to start to believe them.

“I’m not crazy… ghosts are real.”

The ghost, whom Erin recognized as Gertrude Aldridge from the portrait, turned her attention to Erin, and the redhead felt her breath hitch in her throat.

“Hello, my name is Dr. Erin Gilbert—“

The ghost obviously didn’t care for introductions, instead choosing to open its mouth wide with a scream and releasing a torrent of green slime, which hit Erin with the force of a fire hose. The physicist could feel the slime oozing on her skin, causing her clothing to stick to her body. Before she or Abby could react, Gertrude flew towards the opposite wall and was gone, leaving the two women alone.

“Oh my god Erin, do you realize what just happened?!” Abby cried after a few moments of stunned silence.

“We saw a ghost…” Erin replied, scarcely able to believe the words coming from her own mouth.

“We saw a ghost!” Abby fiddled with the camera, rewinding the video. “She only shows up as a color form here; we’ll need a camera that can actually record a spectral being, but we saw a ghost!” The brunette was shaking Erin now, which seemed to bring the redhead out of her stupor.

“Ghosts are real.”

“Ghosts are real!”

-/-

Here was a question Erin had never faced before: how did one get ectoplasm out of clothing? Better yet, would this stuff even come out of her hair? The physicist sighed as she managed to peel off her clothing, letting it fall into a pile on the bathroom floor with a wet plop. The redhead stepped into the shower, turning the water on and letting out another sigh as it began to heat up. Erin closed her eyes and braced her hands against the wall as the water beat down on her, washing the now-drying ectoplasm from her skin—

_“You better watch out!”_

_A torrent of red blood was spilling down on her, pouring over her face and chest, covering her bed, and she wanted to scream—_

Erin gasped as she jerked herself out of the memory, stumbling back and hitting the opposite wall. Her chest felt tight, and her breaths were coming out in short gasps.

_“Don’t let her get me!”_

“No, no, it’s not happening, she’s not here, I’m in my shower at home...”

_“You better watch out!”_

“No!” Erin jerked away, which resulted in her falling through the shower curtain and hitting the bathroom floor hard. The redhead barely registered the pain as she scuttled into a corner, knees pulled to her chest as she tried to calm her racing heart. She couldn’t tell herself that ghosts weren’t real, not anymore. She had never really believed that of course, but it had been a desperate coping mechanism.

Not anymore.

-/-

Breaking out of her cell had been easy. A piece of cake really. After weeks of pleading and good behavior, she had finally gotten her hands on a pack of playing cards circa 1930.

And she promptly dumped them down the toilet.

It didn’t take long for the chemical reaction to occur (volatile ink and water- so simple and yet so effective!), and one little poof later, her cell was opened as guards came in to investigate.

That was their second mistake.

Her file described her as “feral”; bright red and all capitals, so it must be official. In hindsight, perhaps she was. The first guard she had taken out with a hard punch to the face, and when the second grabbed her, she had thrown herself backwards and slammed him into the floor.

Now she was running through the hallways, alarms blaring as she did so. If she could get to the main control board, she could override the system and trap the officers while making her escape. Simple, no problem—

She was suddenly tackled by a very solid figure, and she let out a grunt as she hit the floor.

“I got her! Don’t worry, I got her!”

Other guards were gathering now, and she was hauled to her feet, hands and feet quickly restrained.

“Hey guys, new record right? A+ job, maybe we can talk about this.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who read the first chapter :) I'll try and update as regularly as I can, but with grad school going on, I can't make any promises.

“Erin, is that you—oh my god, you look like you slept under an overpass.”

“Good morning to you too Abby.”

“Rough night?”

Erin let out a sigh. “Yeah.” In truth, she hadn’t slept at all last night. After she’d managed to get herself off the bathroom floor, the redhead had gotten dressed for bed, but sleep would not come.

“Listen, I’m glad you’re here, we have a lot of work to do—“

“I can’t do this.”

Abby looked taken aback by that. “What do you mean?”

Erin shook her head. “Last night… after we saw Gertrude… I went back to when I was eight. I can’t do that again… I can’t go back every time we see a ghost.”

Abby’s expressions softened, and she approached the physicist, placing her hands on her arms gently. “Erin, listen to me: you don’t have to be the victim anymore. You can be the person your younger self needed.”

Erin let out a sigh, looking up at her friend (were they friends again? Had ghosts once again brought them together?).

“Besides, there is a ghost on the loose, and we have to catch it, and any other ghosts that may be flying about.”

Erin knew Abby was right; she had to take control and stop being the victim. “Okay.”

“Yeah?”

The redhead nodded.

“All right, if we’re going to do this, then I need to know you’re committed. You can’t bail on me like you did before.”

“I won’t abandon you again Abby.”

A pause during which Erin could tell Abby was debating whether or not to begin rebuilding that bridge.

The brunette smiled, pulling her friend into an embrace. “Welcome back Dr. Gilbert.”

The redhead let out a sigh of relief, realizing that she had been holding her breath. “Thank you.” The two broke apart and Erin cleared her throat. “So… where do we begin?”

“Well, first off, we’re going to have to replace the equipment you broke,” Abby said, walking over to a table that held quite a few pieces of scrap metal.

Erin nodded as she followed the brunette, feeling the embarrassment from her temper tantrum coming back. “Right…”

“And to do that, we’re going to need the person who developed the original plans.”

“All right, that sounds easy enough. We just need to find this person, right? Who is it?”

“Her.”

Erin turned to face the television that Abby had left on, and her gaze fell on a picture of a woman with blonde hair that seemed to defy the laws of physics. Underneath the picture was the headline “ATTEMPTED ESCAPE THWARTED”.

“We need her?” Erin said. “Are you sure I didn’t look too late and miss the person you actually meant? Maybe someone who isn’t… her?”

Abby gave her a look. “Erin, that’s Dr. Jillian Holtzmann, a brilliant nuclear engineer. She’s the only one crazy enough to make what we need; with her on our team, we can push the limits of paranormal science.”

Erin let out a sigh as she looked back at the picture. “Next thing I know, you’re going to tell me we need to break her out.”

Silence. That was never good.

The redhead looked back at her companion. “Abby, why are you being quiet and not laughing at my obvious joke?”

“Well, I’m not saying it’ll come to that, but it’s certainly a backup plan—“

“Oh my god!” Erin stared at the brunette. “I can’t even believe what I’m hearing! Hunting ghosts is one thing, but what you’re talking about here is a crime! We could end up joining her in prison!”

“Don’t be ridiculous Erin, we won’t end up with her, she’s in Sing Sing for manslaughter.”

“WHAT?!”

“I know, it’s a lot to take in right now, so I’m going to wait before I tell you that we’re going to see her.”

“ABBY—“

“Have a wonton. You’ll feel better.”

-/-

“Transferred… I wasn’t even planning to catch her… just watching the screens like usual and I happened to get lucky…” Patty Tolan shook her head as she made her way to down the hallway, a tray of food in her hands. “You tackle one escapee, and they transfer you to supermax.” Patty reached her destination, and her gaze fell on the 84 blazoned on the opaque plexiglass door. The guard let out a sigh before she unlocked the food slot, sliding the tray through.

“Hey, uh… Holtzmann? Jillian? I have your dinner; it’s meatloaf tonight.”

The blonde looked up at the voice from where she had been sitting on the floor, and a grin spread across her face. “You’re the one that tackled me.”

Patty wasn’t sure if that was a good or a bad thing. “Yeah, that was me.”

“That was a pretty sweet tackle, not gonna lie.”

“I know, right? Man, they didn’t even interview me afterwards.”

Holtzmann shook her head before she crawled towards the barred door, waiting for it to open before she went to get her meal, picking up the meatloaf slice and beginning to eat, obviously unperturbed by the lack of silverware.

Unable to leave until Holtzmann finished, Patty found herself asking, “How’d you do it?”

“Hmm?”

“Get out of your cell.”

Holtzmann grinned, her cheeks full of meatloaf and reminding Patty of a chipmunk. “Oh, that.” The blonde swallowed and wiped her mouth with her sleeve. “Well, it took weeks of convincing, but I managed to acquire a pack of 1930’s playing cards. See, a lot of people don’t know, but playing cards from that time were made—“

“With a volatile ink, particularly in the red suits,” Patty finished. “Yeah, I read about a case at the Q where a prisoner committed suicide by making a sort of pipe bomb with the cards and water.”

“The Q?”

“It’s a little nickname people use for San Quentin.”

“Cute.”

“So you just dropped the cards in the toilet?”

“And waited for the show.” Holtzmann touched the tip of her nose with her tongue, stretching her arms up and behind her head.

“That is both reckless and ingenious.”

The blonde shrugged. “It’s what I do.” She took another bite from her meatloaf before asking, “So you the new guard here?”

“Yeah, I just got transferred, and you apparently broke the last guard’s nose.”

“I did. I did do that.”

“Uh-huh. Well, just know that if you try and pull that shit with me, you will be in a world of pain.”

Holtzmann nodded with a grin. “I like you.”

-/-

Patty had seen the file of Jillian Holtzmann. It contained words such as “feral” and “deranged”, but it had been three days since she’d been transferred to supermax, and Patty had yet to see that side of the blonde.

“Lunch time Holtzy.”

The blonde looked up from where she had been sitting on the floor, and she approached the plexiglass once the bars opened, taking the tray Patty slid through the slot. “Any books today?”

Patty gave her a look. “Come on Holtzy, you know I can’t bring you anything like that.”

“I won’t try and blow anything up this time.”

“The warden is set on not letting you have anything; you’re lucky you even get to have clothes.”

The blonde paused, looking down at the uniform she was wearing.

“Don’t you even think about it.”

“Think about whaaaatt?”

“Holtz, don’t you make me come through this slot.”

Holtzmann grinned before turning her attention back to her food. Silence passed between them as she ate.

“The food okay?” Patty asked.

Holtzmann nodded. “I haven’t had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in a while.” She soon finished and let out a sigh, turning and heading back into her cell, the bars closing behind her.

Patty felt a pang of sympathy for the blonde, and she had just picked up the tray when she heard, “The hardest part is the loneliness.”

Patty paused and looked back into the slot, seeing Holtzmann leaning against the bars. “What?”

“I don’t mind the empty room; I have enough thoughts to keep me entertained. It’s the lack of human contact that gets me… people wonder why prisoners lose their minds after being in solitary confinement…” Holtzmann moved away from the bars, looking around the barren cell and letting out a sigh. “We are not built for this.”

Patty looked down at the tray in her hands, wishing she knew how to respond. She had read countless prison studies, and she knew what Holtzmann had said was true: her isolation was doing more harm than good.

“All those times I tried to escape… yeah, I wanted out, but I also wanted human contact. For those few minutes, people were paying attention to me, talking to me, even if it was just yelling. It was human contact at its most basic… but god, it’s the only thing that’s kept me sane.”

Another silence stretched between them.

“Look, Holtzy… you know I can’t bring you books or anything like that, but maybe… maybe when I bring food… you can eat a little slower, and I… I’ll tell you about my most recent readings.”

The blonde’s face lit up a bit, and she smiled crookedly. “Thanks Patty. I knew I liked you.”

-/-

“Abby, are you sure about this?” Erin asked as she looked up apprehensively at the entrance to Sing Sing Prison.

“It’ll be fine,” Abby replied as they got out of the cab. “Just act natural.”

“Natural. Right. Got it. No problem.”

“Erin? Are you coming?”

Erin realized she had yet to actually move, and she quickly caught up to Abby as the two headed inside the prison.

“What’s your business here?” the guard asked as he looked over their ID’s.

“Just visiting a friend,” Abby replied.

“Nothing suspicious,” Erin added nervously.

Abby gave the redhead a look. “We’re just here to see Jillian Holtzmann—“

The guard stopped abruptly, handing their ID’s back. “Jillian Holtzmann has been placed in supermax. No visitors allowed.”

“What, because she tried to escape? Come on, she’s harmless.”

“She put two guards in the infirmary.”

“Oh.” Abby paused. “But they’re okay, right?”

The guard didn’t reply.

“All right, well we’ll try again another time,” Erin said, tugging on Abby’s arm.

“No, we need to see Jillian Holtzmann, it’s very important.”

“And what is this important business?”

“We happen to need her engineering expertise to further our research of the paranormal,” Abby replied.

The guard stared.

“We need her help to catch a ghost.”

“A ghost,” the guard repeated slowly. He shook his head with a sigh, and Erin could tell they had been dismissed.

“You’re here to see Holtzmann?”

The two women turned to see another guard approaching, a tall imposing woman with a badge that read TOLAN.

“Well that was the plan anyway,” Abby muttered.

Patty nodded. “Come with me; I might be able to get you in.”

-/-

“But sir—“

“Tolan, I have already explained this to you and every other guard here: Jillian Holtzmann is not to receive any visitors. She is dangerous.”

“How dangerous can she be, really?” Erin asked from where she sat in one of the chairs across from the warden.

The warden looked at her with hard eyes. “She’s set off five explosions in the six months she’s been here.”

Erin pressed her tongue into her cheek with a nod. “That’s still less than one a month, so that should count for something.” 

“No matter what we give her, she manages to macgyver it into a weapon or an explosive.”

“You have to give her points for creativity and ingenuity at least,” Abby said. “I mean, she is a genius—“

“I’m sorry, but we simply cannot allow you to see her.”

Erin let out a sigh, looking over at Abby, who looked about ready to throw herself over the desk at the warden.

“Sir, I’ve been watching Holtzmann for almost a week now, and I really think that having visitors would help her,” Patty said.

The warden looked at the guard. “And what has she done to make you think that?”

“Nothing, that’s just it. She hasn’t done anything wrong since we put her in supermax. Maybe we could try reinforcing that good behavior—“

“The last time we ‘reinforced’ her ‘good behavior’, she blew up a toilet and took out two guards.”

“This will be different; just give her another chance—“

“We’ve given her plenty of chances!”

“You’ve given her beatings and isolation! No wonder she lashes out whenever we give her the chance!”

Silence permeated the room. Abby and Erin shifted a bit uncomfortably in their seats; the conversation had taken an awkward turn.

“You know what, I think we’ll just come back another day,” Abby said, standing up with Erin following suit.

“Sit down; you started this and now Patty is going to end it,” Patty said, stopping them.

“I think we’ll sit,” Erin said as she and Abby sat once again.

“You honestly believe she’s stable, Tolan?” the warden asked.

Patty nodded.

“All right, we’ll see how stable she is. Take these women to visit her; if everything goes well, we’ll take her out of supermax. But if anything happens, if I hear about so much as a muscle twitch, you’ll be out of the job, and she’ll be locked in that cell indefinitely. Understand?”

Patty nodded again. “Loud and clear sir.”

The three women left the office, and upon reaching the empty visitation room, Patty placed a hand on each of their shoulders.

“Now listen: I’m happy to help out, but my job is on the line here, so don’t do anything to provoke her, understand?”

Abby and Erin nodded, and Patty released them.

“You have a seat, and I’ll go get Holtzy.” Patty left the room, and Erin and Abby sat at the nearest table.

“Abby, just curious, have you ever actually spoken to this woman before?” Erin asked.

“Of course, we’ve written multiple letters to each other.”

“Letters? So you’ve never actually spoken to her in person?” Erin could feel her pulse quickening; this was not what she had been expecting, Abby had led her to believe she knew Holtzmann personally.

“Calm down; we’ll be fine.”

There was the sound of clinking chains, and the two looked up to see Patty returning, holding onto the arm of one Jillian Holtzmann. The blonde’s face lit up upon seeing the two, and she sat in the seat opposite them.

“Abby,” the blonde drawled with a smile.

“Hi Holtz.” Abby extended her hand, which Holtzmann looked at before showing her cuffed wrists. “Oh, right. Hey, you never responded to my last letter.”

“I know, they took my pencil away after I used it as ammo for my toilet paper crossbow.”

“Did it actually work?”

“Like a charm, until they crushed it.” Holtz let out a dramatic sigh.

Abby shook her head with a smile, and Erin could tell she was admiring the blonde’s work.

“I’m sorry, but how did you recognize Abby? I thought you two had never met in person,” Erin said.

Holtz looked over at Erin as if just noticing her (though she had certainly noticed the redhead right away, that was for sure). “Dr. Gilbert. You come here often?”

“No, I don’t make it a habit to… visit prisons,” Erin replied.

Holtzmann grinned. “That’s a shame. And to answer your question, Abby sent me some pictures before.” A pause. “You know, you look different in person; you don’t have those devil horns and that mustache that your picture had.”

Erin gave Abby a look.

“I was trying to make a point,” Abby said with a shrug.

“By the way, I had to sacrifice those when I created a pipe bomb out of a hollowed-out bar of soap.”

“Holtzy, take my advice: stop making explosives,” Patty said, shaking her head.

“All riiiiiight.”

“We went to Aldridge Mansion yesterday,” Abby said, taking back control of the conversation. “Holtz, we saw her.”

Holtzmann’s eye widened. “Gertrude?”

Abby nodded. “She was beautiful; a Class IV apparition.”

“Sure, beautiful,” Erin muttered. “She didn’t ectoproject all over you.”

“But even that was beautiful.”

Erin rolled her eyes; Abby had never swooned so hard over anything.

Holtzmann grinned, obviously enjoying herself. “Tell me how the PKE meter worked.”

“Oh, about that…”

Holtzmann frowned slightly. “Did it not work?”

“Welllll… it had an accident.” Abby was obviously dancing around the truth.

“An accident?”

“Yeah, an accident.”

“What kind of accident?”

“The kind of accident where it ended up smashed on the floor because Erin threw it at me.”

Holtzmann’s eyes widened and she stood abruptly “YOU WHAT?!” The engineer lunged for Erin, and the redhead and Abby both jumped.

“Holtzy, no!” Patty admonished, seizing the blonde and holding her back.

Erin could see the wild look in Holtzmann’s eyes, and while she was sure Patty was strong, the blonde looked like she was dangerously close to breaking free of her hold.

“Do you realize how many HOURS of work went into that?! That was the only prototype!” Holtzmann yelled, struggling against Patty’s grip.

“Jillian, sit down,” Patty said firmly, pushing the blonde back into her seat.

The blonde did so, though Erin could see the contempt in her eyes.

“Look, I’m sorry, but you must have plans or something for it, right? You can rebuild it?” Erin asked.

“Oh sure, let me just rebuild it for you. I’m sure the warden won’t mind a little nuclear engineering!”

“Well, you made plans right?” Abby said, getting in between the two before Holtz could escalate further. “Maybe if we could see them, you could walk us through rebuilding it?”

Holtzmann shook her head. “Most of my plans were destroyed in the accident that put me here.”

“What about your apartment?”

“Everything was seized as evidence. The only plans left are up here,” Holtzmann said, raising her cuffed hands to her head and tapping her temple with a finger.

Abby let out a sigh, but what could they do? As Holtzmann had said, there was obviously no way she could help them from a cell. “Maybe you could recreate the plans…?”

“Why, so Gilbert can break it again?” Holtzmann shook her head. “I’m sorry Abby, but I can’t do anything for you.”

-/-

It was silent as Abby and Erin slid into a cab, and after a long pause, the brunette said, “You know what we have to do, don’t you?”

Erin let out a sigh, closing her eyes. “Please don’t say it.”

“We have to go to our back-up plan. We have to break Holtzmann out."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to all who have read/subscribed/ responded in any way, I appreciate it all! :)

“Abby, consider what you’re proposing here—“

“Do you have any other suggestions?”

Erin let out a sigh. “Not at the moment, but that doesn’t mean that trying to break Jillian out of prison is the best idea.”

Abby made a face. “Did you just call her Jillian?”

“That’s her name…?”

“Call her Holtzmann like a normal person.”

Erin rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I’m the weird one.”

“Look Erin, we need Holtzmann. You heard her when we were at the prison; she can invent anything out of plain junk! Imagine what she could do in our lab.”

“You mean our room over this Chinese restaurant?”

“Hey, that dean is an idiot, and he is going to regret kicking me out.”

The redhead shook her head. Shortly after their return from Sing Sing, Abby had gone to the dean of Kenneth P. Higgins asking for more funding for her program, only to be told (not so kindly) to “suck it”.

(Erin’s only response to such had been “My word.”)

“I admit, she’s brilliant, but we can’t do this Abby.”

“Hey, I don’t want to hear that kind of negative talk.”

Erin sighed again, rubbing her temples. She should know by now that Abby couldn’t be talked out of anything, no matter how dangerous or illegal. “Okay, let’s say that hypothetically we were going to break her out; how would we even do that? She’s in a supermax cell, and those are built specifically to keep prisoners inside. Holtzmann especially; you heard the warden, she’s practically Houdini.”

“Exactly. You put our four brains together, and I bet you a million dollars we can get her out.”

“First of all, you don’t have a million dollars to bet. Secondly, four?”

“I’m counting Patty too, she must know that prison like the back of her hand. Besides, you saw how she was towards Holtzmann; she likes her. I bet she’d help us.”

“And risk her job?”

“We don’t know that would get her fired.”

“Abby, she’s a corrections officer; her job is literally to keep prisoners inside Sing Sing.”

The brunette waved her hand at the physicist. “Either you’re with me or you’re not, but choose a side Erin.”

-/-

“Hey Holtzy, I managed to get my hands on a moon pie for you today.” Patty unlocked the slot, sliding the tray through. “I managed to convince them you deserved it for behaving so well during your visit.”

The guard was met with silence, and she peered through the slot, seeing Holtzmann lying on her bed, looking up at the ceiling. “Holtzy? You gonna come eat?”

The blonde didn’t reply, making no motion to indicate that she’d even heard Patty.

Patty wasn’t sure she liked this behavior; silence usually led to trouble in one form or another. “Holtzmann, I need some kind of response, you know I can’t leave the food here and I have to close the slot after ten minutes.”

Silence. Patty was about to give up when she heard the blonde let out a sigh.

“I’m never getting out of here.”

“Come on, don’t say that.”

Holtzmann turned to face the guard. “Patty, you don’t need lie to yourself or me. We both know the truth; if I had just been serving my sentence for the manslaughter charge, then maybe I could hope for parole, but with all my escape attempts… I bet I’ve added at least another twenty years.”

Patty sighed, unable to deny what Holtzmann was saying. “You know, you can at least get out of supermax if you continue your good behavior.”

The blonde shrugged.

“But you gotta stop blowing stuff up Holtzy. I don’t know if it’s a compulsion or what, but you gotta do your best to control it.”

The blonde half-smiled. “My bad.”

“Holtzy, this is serious. I’m trying to help you out.”

“I know. Thanks Patty.”

The guard’s radio suddenly crackled to life, followed by a voice saying, “Tolan, do you copy?”

“Come eat Holtzy,” Patty said before she pulled out her radio. “I copy.”

“There are two visitors here who say they need to speak to you.”

Patty’s brow furrowed. Speak to her? No one ever came to the prison to speak to her. “To me?”

“They asked for you specifically.”

“Oh. Uh, okay, I’ll be there in a few minutes, I gotta wait for Holtzmann to finish her meal first.”

“Tell her to hurry up.”

Patty made a face before putting her radio away. “You don’t have to hurry.”

“It’s fiiiiiine, I’m done anyway.”

Patty looked down at the tray; about half the meatloaf was gone, the mashed potatoes barely looked touched, but the moon pie was completely gone. “Are you sure? You didn’t eat very much.”

“I’m sure; remember to be on your best behavior during your visit,” Holtzmann said with a grin and a wink.

Patty shook her head. “I’ll see you at dinner Holtzy.”

-/-

Upon reaching the visitation room, Patty found herself looking at the two women who had come to visit Holtzmann a day or so ago.

“Are you two here to see Holtzmann again, because you know she only gets two visits a month and you might want to spread them out—“

“We’re here to see you,” Abby said.

Patty’s brow furrowed. “Why?”

“We have something we’d like to run by you.”

“I’m still not sure about this…” Erin said.

Patty wasn’t sure she liked where this was headed. “Just remember that y’all are on camera here, so if what you have to say is… private, you may want to consider waiting until I’m off-shift.”

Abby pointed at her with a nod. “Yes, this is a private matter, so we will see you after you finish your shift, which would be…?”

“Midnight.”

“Midnight, all right, we will see you then.” Abby stood, pulling Erin up with her. “Tell Holtzmann we said hi.” The two left, leaving Patty feeling very confused as to what had just happened.

-/-

Patty was almost to her car, and after a twelve-hour shift, all she wanted to do was collapse in bed—

“Hi Patty.”

The guard let out a scream, reaching for her mace. The other two let out screams as well, and Patty realized it was Abby and Erin.

“Damn, you can’t just sneak up on someone like that!” Patty said, putting a hand over her racing heart. “Scare me half to death.”

“Us scare you, you were about to mace us!” Abby said.

“Because you snuck up on me!”

“Okay, let’s agree we were all scared,” Erin said.

Patty let out a sigh. “What do y’all want?”

“We need your help.”

“With what?”

“We’re breaking Holtzmann out.”

Patty stared at them for a few moments before she let out a laugh, prompting Abby and Erin to laugh as well. “Okay, seriously, what do you want?”

“We actually do want to break Holtzmann out,” Erin said, still laughing slightly.

“Yeah, we need her build equipment for us so we can catch a ghost,” Abby added.

“A ghost?” Patty laughed again. “Next you’re going to tell me you two are some kind of ghost hunters.”

“Ghost studiers actually,” Erin corrected.

“And we would love to have Holtzmann on our team, so what do you say Patty, help us out?”

“No!” Patty snapped as she stopped laughing abruptly, startling the two out of their laughter. “Are you crazy?! I could lose my job, and you two could end up in prison with Holtz!”

“That’s what I said,” Erin pointed out.

“Patty, that is exactly why we need your help; there's no way we can do it by ourselves,” Abby said. “You know Sing Sing better than any of us.”

“It’s true, I do read a lot, and yeah, I know about Sing Sing.” Still, Patty was obviously not convinced. “But this plan of yours is crazy.”

“Crazy enough to work?” Abby ventured.

“No, just crazy like stupid. Look, I like Holtzy, and I feel for her, but I could lose my job for even talking about this. If you're smart, you'll let this go.”

-/-

“All right, what's plan C?”

Abby let out a sigh as she set the container of wonton soup down. “I'm not sure yet.”

“Maybe Patty is right, and we should just give this up--”

“No, we can't give up! This is just a temporary setback.”

Erin let out a sigh. “Abby… what if we can't do it? What if we can't break her out?”

“We will.”

“But what if we can't?”

“We will,” Abby repeated, firmer this time.

-/-

“Dinner time Holtzy.” Patty unlocked the slot in the plexiglass, sliding the tray in. “I'd stay away from the veggies if I were you though, I'm pretty sure I saw them on someone else’s tray first.”

The bars opened as Holtzmann rolled off her bed, approaching the tray. “You never told me what your visitors wanted yesterday.”

Patty paused; she had kept from telling Holtzmann for a good reason. The blonde didn't need any encouragement or help in her misguided escape attempts. “They were actually looking for someone else.”

Holtzmann arched an eyebrow, but didn't press the subject. Her nose wrinkled as she began eating, and she said, “Food’s pretty rank tonight.”

“Come on, you know prison food isn't exactly high cuisine--”

“I meant the smell. Smells like burning flesh.”

Patty paused as the scent reached her as well. Holtzmann was right, it did smell like something was burning (though how the blonde knew it was flesh, Patty didn't want to ask).

“That's weird…”

The lights suddenly flickered, and the guard stood up straight, looking down the hallway. Her gaze fell on a figure standing a few feet away, and Patty reached for her baton.

“Hey, who is that?” she called.

There was no response, which worried her. Had an inmate gotten out?

“I’m gonna need you to identify yourself.”

“Who is it?” Holtzmann asked, trying to peek out of the slot.

Patty took a few steps forward, seeing that the figure was a woman wearing a prison uniform that looked like it was from the 50’s. Patty also realized two important things at once: their feet weren't touching the ground, and their head was smoking.

“What the hell…?”

With a crackle or electricity, the woman lunged for Patty, who let out a yell and jumped back, stumbling and falling to the floor.

“Patty, what is it?!” Holtzmann asked; she could tell now that something was wrong.

The plexiglass door to Holtzmann’s cell suddenly slid open, and the blonde didn't hesitate before she stepped out, helping Patty to her feet.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, but…” Patty realized what had happene. “How’d you get out?”

“I'm actually a Jedi; I used the Force.” Holtzmann’s eyes fell on the floating woman, and she grinned. “A class IV apparition; Abby is going to be so upset she missed this.”

“A what?”

“It's a ghost!”

Patty felt her blood run cold at that; she had been desperately hoping there would be some other explanation. “Those two were telling the truth?!”

“Excuse me, uh, ghost? Are you aware your head is smoking?” Holtzmann said.

“Hold on, is that—“

Patty wasn’t able to finish who she thought it was before the ghost lunged at them again, teeth gnashing, and the two women hit the floor, letting the ghost sail over them.

“I don't think she likes you,” Holtz said as the two stood up again.

_“Understandable; after all, that uniform does stand for the institution that wrongly executed an innocent civilian.”_

Holtz and Patty both jumped at the male voice that had suddenly come over the PA.

_“And what about you, Dr. Jillian Holtzmann? Do you support such institutions? After all, they are the ones who locked you up in this infernal place.”_

“Okay, mysterious voice who knows my name, come on out,” Holtzmann called.

_“I don't think I will; not yet anyway. You and I will cross paths again… that is, if the others don't kill you first.”_

A buzzing noise filled the room, followed by the sound of all the supermax cell doors opening.

“Oh that's not good,” Holtz said. “Patty, run.”

“I'm not leaving you--”

“They'll go after you first; get to safety and then come back for me.”

Patty wanted to argue, but the inmates were emerging, and most of them were bad news, to say the least. The guard turned and ran for the door, only to find it closed and locked.

“It's locked!”

“Oh, this really isn't good.”

Some of the inmates were running at them now, and Holtzmann picked up the nearest object she could, which was her food tray. She smashed it across the first inmate’s face, letting him crumple to the floor. The second grabbed her arm and shoved her up against the wall, aiming a punch for her face. Holtzmann quickly moved her head, and the inmate’s fist hit the wall hard. Before he could recover, Holtzmann drove her knee into his stomach, forcing him back. Once freed, the blonde brought the tray down hard across the back of his head, bringing him to the floor.

A fist made contact with the side of her head, and Holtzmann stumbled back, slightly dazed. She heard a yell, and was dimly aware of the fact that someone was charging at her.

“Holtzy!”

The blonde felt herself being pulled out of the way, and she looked over in time to see Patty cracking her baton across the inmate’s knees, bringing him to the floor.

“Thanks,” Holtzmann said, getting to her feet again. She swung the tray and the incoming inmate, hitting him in the face and knocking him back. The blonde then jammed the corner of the tray into his stomach, causing him to double over and begin dry heaving.

A thick hand suddenly closed around her neck, and Holtzmann found herself being slammed into the floor. She let out a wheeze at having the wind knocked out of her.

“So you like being the guards’ bitch?”

Holtzmann felt a boot dig into her ribs, and she let out a grunt. She grappled for the tray, bringing it up into the side of the inmate’s head once she located it. He was dazed long enough for her to get free, and she hit him again, bringing him to the floor. Holtzmann continued to hit him with the tray, stopping only when Patty seized her arms, pulling her back.

“Holtzy, stop! He’s down!”

The blonde let out a feral noise Patty had never heard before as she struggled to free herself.

“Jillian!”

Holtzmann’s struggling stopped at her name, and her chest heaved as Patty held her.

“You okay?”

Holtzmann nodded, and after a few more moments, Patty released her. The blonde looked around the room before she dropped the tray, letting it clatter to the ground, loudly proclaiming, “You just got Holtzmann’d baby!”

Her victory was short-lived; the door to the supermax wing suddenly opened, and Holtzmanned turned to see other correctional officers swarming in.

“Get on the floor, hands behind your head!”

Holtzmann did as she was ordered as she said, “Holtzy’s sorry. Holtzy won’t do it again.”


	4. Chapter 4

“Okay, are you guys serving Chinese food, or does actual science happen up here?”

Abby and Erin looked up at the voice, seeing Patty emerging from the top of the stairs.

“Patty, hi,” Abby said, approaching the officer. Her brow furrowed slightly as she noticed the distant look in Patty’s eyes. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah… yeah, I just…” Patty was having trouble finding the right words, and eventually she managed to get out, “I saw a ghost.”

Erin and Abby both froze at that. Another ghost sighting so soon after the Aldridge Mansion was certainly intriguing.

“Tell us everything,” Abby said, pulling up a chair for the correctional officer.

Patty sat in the chair, trying to decide where to start. “Last night when I brought Holtzy her dinner, there was this weird smell, like something burning, and when I looked up… she was there, just floating off the floor.”

“The ghost? You could tell it was a woman?”

Patty nodded. “Holtzy called it a class IV or something?”

“Distinct human form!” Abby did nothing to try and contain her excitement. “Did you happen to figure out who it was?”

“Yeah… actually, I did,” Patty replied, recalling the memory of the night before. “I’m pretty sure it was Ethel Rosenburg. She was transferred to Sing Sing for execution by electric chair in 1953. But she did not die easy; it took five shocks to kill her, and in the end, her head was left smoking.” Patty shook her head. “The ghost I saw had a smoking head too.”

“What did she do?” Erin asked. “To be sentenced to death?”

“Supposedly she was a spy for the Soviets.”

“Supposedly?”

“Well, there’s been talk lately that she might have been innocent.”

“That would certainly make for a vengeful ghost,” Abby said. “What else? Did you make contact?”

“Contact? Baby, she wanted me to join the ranks of the dead.”

“She tried to hurt you?” Erin asked.

“She came at me hard; she definitely did not want to be friends.”

“Another malevolent ghost,” Abby said.

_”You better watch out!”_

Erin shook the memory from her mind, forcing herself to focus on the present. She would not give in to a memory, she would not let it take control.

“What happened after that?” Abby asked.

“She flew off and then all the cell doors opened. Man, Holtzy and I had to fight for our lives in there, and I don’t wanna brag, but we kicked some serious ass.”

“And you didn’t see Ethel again?”

Patty gave her a look. “Hey, once was enough; I didn’t go looking for her.”

“And what happened to Holtzmann?” Erin found herself asking.

The officer let out a sigh. “They locked her back up in supermax; I tried to explain what happened, but they’re convinced she tried to orchestrate another escape. Now she only gets one meal a day, her visitation privileges have been revoked, and she’s only allowed a pair of underwear and a sports bra to wear.”

“Wait; they took away her clothes?”

“So she can’t hide anything under them.” Patty let out another sigh, running her hands through her hair. “I don’t know how much longer she can survive this way…”

Abby and Erin exchanged looks.

“And on top of all that, there’s a ghost flying around, doing who knows what.” Patty looked up at the two scientists. “This ghost problem… it won’t stop on its own, will it?”

“No,” Abby replied. “It’s only going to get worse. The barrier is obviously weakening, and more ghosts will keep coming through unless we do something.”

“And you need Holtzy, don’t you?”

“We can’t do this without her engineering skills.”

Patty nodded. “I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but we have to break Holtzmann out.”

Erin had never expected Patty to come over to their side, but Abby seemed beside herself with glee as she smiled broadly.

“Glad to have you on board, “ Abby said before she moved to the worktable, unrolling one of the plans. “Now, we know where the supermax wing is, but it’s obviously tucked away. Not only will it be difficult to get to, but even if we do manage to get to her cell, it’ll be nearly impossible to break her out.”

“Hold on, where did you get these?” Patty asked as she approached, looking down at the plans.

“Internet.”

“Nuh-uh, this is not public knowledge.”

Abby and Erin exchanged another look.

“Okay, I don’t like what y’all are doing with your secret looks.”

“Look, how we got the plans isn’t important,” Erin said.

“What is important is your input,” Abby added. “You know the prison, what’s the best way to get Holtzmann out?”

Patty shook her head. “I’ll tell you right now, you’re never going to get her out this way. The prison is too well guarded, and besides that, Holtzmann is under extreme scrutiny right now. She’s tried to escape too many times.”

“Are there any tunnels under the prison? Or maybe we could use the sewage pipes?”

“Baby, this ain’t the Shawshank Redemption.”

“Oh, I loved that movie,” Erin commented.

“Me too; it’s almost as good as the Green Mile,” Abby added, turning to face the redhead.

“Oh my god, Tom Hanks was great in that role.”

“I know, right?”

“Um, if y’all are done talking about fictional prisons, I’d like to point something else out to you: even if you could break Holtzy out of her cell and manage to escape the prison without getting shot, everyone would be looking for her. She wouldn’t be able to go outside without fear of being arrested again,” Patty said, pulling their attention back.

“Unless she was dead,” Erin said after a pause. “No one would come looking for a dead woman.”

“Erin, you know that hoping Holtzmann becomes a ghost is not a very solid plan,” Abby said.

“And I’m not really on board with killing her,” Patty added.

“No, that’s not—“ Erin let out a sigh. “If we can make everyone believe Holtzmann is dead, then we’ll be able to get her out, and no one will come after her.”

“I like your style of thinking,” Abby said with a nod. “The question is, how do we fool everyone? We can’t just tell Holtzmann to play dead.”

“You know, I once read about this toxin that comes from a tropical fish, and supposedly it can slow a person’s heart enough to technically be considered dead,” Patty said. “Of course, it eventually does kill the person.”

“That could work,” Abby said. “If we diluted it enough, we could harness its effect without actually killing Holtzmann.” The brunette turned to Erin. “What do you think?”

Erin shifted a bit uncomfortably. “We’d have to run some equations, but I suppose it could work.”

“Great, you get started on that, and get back to me.”

“Me— what about you?”

“Patty and I are going to track down this toxin.”

“We are?”

“Yep; field trip!”

-/-

“Hey, do you think we could maybe turn the heat up? It’s getting a little nippy in here, if you know what I mean.” Holtzmann looked up at the camera (as if they could hide it from her), gesturing to her sports bra. “And I think that you do.”

There was no response; not that she had expected one. The blonde sighed and sat on the floor, inhaling sharply as the cold concrete touched her bare skin. God, she was bored. She had never handled boredom well; as a child, she had always had to be doing something, whether it was building with her Legos or dissembling the toaster. Here, in her cell, there was little more to do than endless push-up and sit-ups.

_At least I’ll get some amazing abs out of this._

Holtzmann laughed aloud at her own joke, the sound echoing off the walls. Silence was another thing she couldn’t stand, and her own voice just wasn’t doing it anymore. She needed noise, even if it was just the cacophony of the city.

“Holtzy?”

The engineer’s head snapped up at the familiar voice. “Patty!” She scrambled to the bars of her cell, waiting impatiently for them to open. Once they did, she quickly approached the slot, her stomach growling at the sight of food. “You are a sight for sore eyes.”

“How are you holding up?” the officer asked.

“I’m losing my mind in here,” Holtzmann replied in between bites. She barely tasted the food; all she wanted was for it to be in her stomach. “Well, what’s left of it anyway.”

“Well, you never know, things may change.”

Holtz was too caught up in her meal to fully process what Patty had said, and she was slightly disappointed upon finishing. “This one meal a day thing isn’t really working out for me.”

“I’ll see what I can do for you.”

“Thanks Patty; you’ve really helped to keep me sane in here.” The blonde let out a sigh before she retreated back into her cell, the bars closing behind her. “See you tomorrow.”

Holtzmann wasn’t entirely sure, but she could have sworn she heard Patty mutter, “I hope,” before she closed the slot.

-/-

Upon arriving at Sing Sing the next morning, Patty found it in a state of chaos. The officer took a deep breath, steeling herself before she headed through the entrance.

“Tolan, there you are!” The warden approached her, looking rather concerned. “Come with me; we have an incident.”

“What happened?” Patty asked, doing her best to keep a straight face as she followed the warden.

“Jillian Holtzmann is dead.”

Patty felt a chill go down her spine at that. It had actually worked. When Abby had given her the small vial before she left for her shift the previous day, Patty had had her doubts. After getting it inside the prison, she had mixed the toxin with Holtzmann’s mashed potatoes, hoping they would conceal any bitter taste the toxin may have had.

And it had worked. They had declared Jillian Holtzmann dead.

“Wha—how?” Patty asked, pulling herself back to the present.

“We don’t know yet.” The warden led her to the supermax wing, and the guard felt a lump form in her throat at the sight of several officers gathered near the entrance of Holtzmann’s cell. “Tell me exactly what happened last night.”

“Everything was as usual. I brought Holtzmann her dinner, she ate it, and then she went back in her cell. I watched her all night on the screen, but she didn’t do anything suspicious, just crawled into bed around eleven and fell asleep I guess.”

The warden crossed his arms. “Around three o’clock this morning, the officer on watch saw Holtzmann grab at her chest before rolling off the bed. At first we thought it was another escape attempt, but after an hour of no movement, the officer called for a doctor. No pulse, no breathing.”

“You waited an hour before you called a doctor? You could have saved her!”

“Tolan, you know her track record; we had to be sure.”

Patty shook her head before she moved past the warden, looking inside the cell. There was a white sheet over a figure on the floor, and the lump in Patty’s throat grew. Of course she knew the truth, but still, seeing that sheet over her friend…

“We’ll have the body taken down to the morgue, and the autopsy will tell us what killed her for sure.”

“Autopsy?” Oh no.

“Yes, autopsy. You know the drill Tolan: any time an inmate dies in our care, we perform an autopsy.”

“Right, of course.”

-/-

“We got a problem!”

“Who is this?”

“Now is not the time, Abby!” Patty glanced around the hallway, making sure she was still alone. “They’re taking Holtzy down to the morgue for an autopsy!”

“… Well, that’s not good.”

“No, it’s not!” Patty let out a sigh. “Look, I gotta pull the plug on this before Holtzmann gets killed for real.”

“No, we can’t stop now!”

“Abby, my friend is about to do an excellent impression of a Thanksgiving turkey!”

“Don’t panic, okay? I’ll figure something out.”

“Tolan.”

Patty let out a small yelp as she closed her phone, turning to face the warden. “Yes sir?”

“Who were you talking to?”

Patty’s mind raced for a lie. “I was contacting Holtzmann’s parents. I wasn’t sure if anyone had done it yet.”

“Ah.” Obviously something else was on his mind, because he didn’t push the subject further. “Holtzmann’s autopsy will have to be delayed. Our medical examiner is out, and we’re doing our best to locate another one.”

“O-oh, okay.” A sudden light bulb went off in Patty’s head. “You know, I may know someone who can help us out.”

-/-

“Abby, is there any update from Patty?” Erin reached the second floor, and stopped upon seeing the tall blond sitting in one of the booths. “Oh, you’re not Abby.”

“No, I’m Kevin,” he replied, offering Erin a smile. “This restaurant is pretty empty; maybe you should consider switching businesses?”

“Um… I’m sorry, what exactly are you doing here?”

“I see you’ve met Kevin.”

Erin turned at Abby’s voice, seeing the brunette approaching with a long white lab coat.

“Yes, we’ve met; did you bring him in here?”

“I did. Kevin here is going to help us out.” The brunette handed over the lab coat, which Kevin stood and slipped into. “Now, you remember your role, right? You looked over the script I gave you?”

“I looked at it, but it had a lot of big words, so I figured I’d just improv a little,” Kevin replied.

“I’m sorry, but what exactly is going on here?” Erin asked, feeling very out of the loop.

“Kevin is going to Sing Sing to perform an autopsy on Holtzmann.”

Erin blinked a few times. “Nothing in that sentence sounded good.”

“Patty called this morning; they took Holtzmann down to the morgue for an autopsy, but their regular medical examiner is out. Since we obviously can’t allow a real autopsy to take place, we are going to have Kevin stand in for us.”

“Oh.” Erin wasn’t sure if this was the best idea; then again, this whole plan was one giant risk.

“And you are going to play his lovely assistant.”

“Wha—why me?”

“Well one of us has to do it, and the warden already saw us. You’re easier to disguise than I am.”

Erin wasn’t entirely sure if that was true.

“Look, all you have to do is get into the morgue, wait around for a bit, and then convince the warden that Holtzmann died from natural causes. Patty and I will take it from there.”

“Oh, is that all?” Erin asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Yeah, I think so, she finished her sentence,” Kevin added helpfully.

“Come on Erin, we’re almost to the finish line here. Once we get Holtzmann out, we’re home free.”

Somehow, the physicist highly doubted that.


	5. Chapter 5

“Hello, we’re here to see Holtzmann.”

The guard at the entrance looked at the two, and Erin could already feel herself beginning to sweat, and not just because of the ridiculous wig she was wearing.

“He means the body,” Erin added quickly.

“You’re the medical examiner?”

“No, I’m the doctor,” Kevin said.

The guard seemed a bit confused, but he allowed the two in, where they were soon met by Patty.

“Oh my god… this is Abby’s plan?” Patty hissed upon seeing the two. “Bringing in a Doctor Ken doll?”

“Ken actually has brown hair,” Kevin supplied.

“Look, I know it’s not perfect, but this is what we’re doing,” Erin whispered. “Now, let’s just get to Holtzmann and get out—“

“You must be the medical examiner we called.”

Erin and Kevin turned at the sound of the warden’s voice.

“Yes, that’s us. Well, that’s him, I’m just the… assistant,” Erin answered quickly.

“Shall I take you to the body then?”

Kevin nodded, and the four headed down to the morgue.

“This is her,” the warden said, gesturing to the body lying on the autopsy table. Erin felt her stomach tighten into a knot as the warden pulled the sheet back, revealing Holtzmann’s face. “We’re thinking maybe cardiac arrest.”

“Mm-hm,” Kevin said with a nod.

The warden paused before he said, “Well, are you ready to begin?”

“Begin what?” Kevin asked.

The warden’s brow furrowed. “The autopsy.”

_Oh god, this is it. We’re never getting away with this, I am going to kill Abby._

“The doctor prefers to work alone,” Erin quickly lied, moving between Kevin and the warden. “He doesn’t really work well with an audience.”

“I see.” The warden’s eyes narrowed slightly, but he said, “I suppose I will go gather the necessary paperwork.” He turned and left the morgue, and Erin realized she had been holding her breath.

“All right, we gotta get Holtzy out of her before this goes south,” Patty said. “I’m gonna call Abby, you get Holtzy ready.” The officer left the room as well.

“I’m hungry; I’m going to see if there’s someplace to eat around here,” Kevin said after a few moments.

“What—you can’t go anywhere, you’re need to stay here.”

“Wow, you’re really dedicated to this role, aren’t you?” Kevin wandered to the other side of the room, poking around a few of the jars sitting on the counter.

“Be careful,” Erin added.

“Don’t worry, I won’t wake her up.”

Erin shook her head, finding her gaze wandering down to Holtzmann’s face. The blonde’s eyes were closed, and she was lying deathly still. The redhead wondered just how long the blonde had been this way. Had it hurt when the toxin took effect? What if Erin had done her calculations wrong? What if she had actually killed the engineer?

The physicist became aware of the fact that her skin was prickling, and she wrapped her arms around herself, looking away from Holtzmann.

About an hour or so later, Patty returned, looking a bit rushed.

“All right, we gotta move this body outta here,” the guard said. “The warden is coming back, and if he sees Holtzmann still isn’t cut open, he’s going to have some unpleasant questions.”

Erin stood from where she had been watching Kevin making a log cabin out of cotton swabs. “Move her where?”

“Abby is waiting outside with the hearse—“

“Hold on, where did you get a hearse?”

“From my uncle.”

“Your uncle drives a hearse?”

Patty shook her head. “Look, I’d love to tell you all about it, but we don’t have time for that now. We gotta get Holtzmann in the car.” Patty moved to grab a body bag, gesturing to Kevin. “Clark Kent, come over here and help.”

“I’m almost done with my cabin.”

“We don’t have time for that!”

Kevin let out a sigh, but stood and approached the table.

“All right, you two lift her, and I’ll slide the bag underneath so we can put her in,” Patty said.

“Won’t we wake her up?” Kevn asked.

“She’s a heavy sleeper. Now lift.”

Kevin slid his hands under Holtzmann’s shoulders and Erin took hold of her legs before the two lifted her together. Patty slipped the body bag underneath her, and they lowered Holtzmann back down, zipping the bag up around her.

“Man, I hope she doesn’t wake up in there,” Patty said once Holtzmann was enclosed inside the bag.

That familiar prickling sensation crept back into Erin’s skin, and she did her best to shake it off. “Let’s just get her out of here before that happens.”

“Doctor? Have you finished your autopsy?”

Erin and Patty froze at the warden’s voice, and they turned to face him.

“Yes, we’ve finished,” Erin said quickly.

The warden looked around the room, his brow furrowing slightly. “Usually autopsies leave a mess; this room is spotless.”

Erin could feel herself beginning to sweat again. “Yes, well, we do it all. Autopsies, cleaning services; we’re the whole package, really.”

“So, tell me doctor, how did she die?”

Erin and Patty looked at Kevin, silently praying that he wouldn’t say anything to get them caught.

“She died from cardio depressed,” Kevin replied, sliding his hands into the pockets on his jacket.

“I’m sorry?”

“Just like you said earlier; she was so depressed from her cardio workouts that she just died.”

“Perhaps you mean cardiac arrest—“

“Hey, which one of us is playing the doctor here?”

The warden looked confused at that, and Erin quickly stepped in, saying, “Well, if there’s nothing else you need from us, we’re going to transport the body so it can be prepared for burial.”

“Did her parents claim the body?”

“Yes, they did, and they are very insistent on having her buried soon.”

A long pause ensued, during which Erin was sure that their ploy would be exposed; visions of being locked up in a cell herself began to go through her mind.

“I suppose I shall sign the release papers then,” the warden finally said. “Come with me to my office, Doctor.”

“Sure thing,” Kevin said, following the warden from the room.

Upon being left alone, Patty let out a sigh of relief. “Come on, we gotta hustle,” she said, lifting one end of the bag. Erin took the other end, and they lifted Holtzmann off the table, beginning to carry her towards the back door. Upon emerging, Erin saw Abby standing outside, looking impatient.

“Where’s Kevin?” the brunette asked, opening the back of the hearse.

“Stalling the warden, so we have about negative five seconds to get Holtzmann out of here,” Patty replied. She and Erin lifted Holtzmann into the back, sliding the bag in before closing the door.

“All right, you two get her out of here; I’m going to the warden’s office to make sure Kevin doesn’t give us up,” Patty said.

“Thank you Patty,” Abby said. “Really, you have no idea how invaluable Holtzmann will be to our studies.”

“Just take care of her; she’s going to need help.”

-/-

Erin had never ridden in a hearse before, and she couldn’t say that it was entirely pleasant. The redhead kept glancing back at the bag in the back, that familiar prickling that she’d come to dread refusing to leave her skin.

“I have to let her out of there,” Erin finally said, unbuckling her seatbelt.

“What?”

The physicist didn’t reply, instead beginning to climb over the seats and into the back.

“Erin, sit down!”

Erin got stuck for a moment before she managed to free herself, tumbling into the back with the body bag. The redhead sat up and began to unzip the bag, revealing Holtzmann’s face once again. The blonde’s eyes were still closed, and her chest wasn’t moving.

“She should have woken up by now,” Erin said, doing her best to stave off the panic that was beginning to settle in her chest.

“She’s fine Erin.”

“She should be awake Abby! I knew I would mess up in my calculations somewhere, and now I’ve actually killed her for real—“

Holtzmann suddenly gasped loudly, causing Erin to let out a yelp as she fell back against the side of the hearse.

“See, I told you,” Abby said.

The blonde began gasping for air, her eyes scanning the hearse in a frenzied manner.

“You’re okay,” Erin said, moving to place a hand on Holtzmann’s shoulder. “Just take a deep breath.”

The engineer’s eyes focused on Erin, and she seemed to be quite focused on breathing normally. After a minute or so, Erin could see her lips struggling to form words, and the redhead leaned in close.

“What is it?”

“I… I need…”

“What do you need Holtzmann?”

A pause, and then, “I need… a coke… because I’m hearsety.”

Realizing she had been played, Erin sat up with a scowl. “Very funny.”

Holtzmann was grinning. “So, is this the modern day Charon?”

“No, you’re still alive. Or, you’ve rejoined the living. I don’t know which is more accurate.”

Holtzmann paused before she attempted to sit up. “Ooo, bad idea,” she muttered before laying back down.

“How do you feel Holtz?” Abby asked from the front seat.

“Abby, is that you, you angel?”

“You’re not dead, Holtz,” Erin repeated.

“I have to be; this isn’t my cell.”

“No, it’s not. We broke you out.”

Holtzmann smiled. “Ah, so you’re angels with a sense of humor. And here I thought Heaven would be a drag.” A pause. “Unless we’re going to the other place, and if so, I would like to say that I was only convicted of manslaughter, if that has any influence on my punishment.”

“Holtzmann, you’re not dead, and we did break you out of Sing Sing.”

There was a pause as the truth fully sunk in, and then Holtzmann’s eyes went wide.

“I’m really out? Out of Sing Sing?”

Erin nodded.

The blonde sat up quickly, ignoring the head rush and the pounding headache it brought, and looked out the window. The sights and sounds of New York greeted her as she did, and the blonde could only stare in awe. “Sweet Tesla… we’re out… I’m really outside.” The engineer looked between Abby and Erin. “How did you…?”

“We used a toxin to slow your heartbeat down to the point where you were considered dead,” Abby replied. “Actually, we just diluted it; Patty was the one who slipped it into your food.”

“Patty helped get me out…?”

“She got us this hearse too.”

Holtzmann shook her head. “I can hearsely believe it.”

Erin rolled her eyes. “Is this a side effect of the toxin, or are you always like this?”

“That really hearsts me Gilbert.”

“Yeah, she loves a pun. She’ll just keep going,” Abby offered. “All right, we’re here.”

The brunette pulled the hearse into the garage attached to the restaurant, and once the door was closed, Abby opened the back door of the hearse, letting Holtzmann and Erin out.

“Freedoooooom,” the blonde sang as she climbed out of the hearse, her legs slightly wobbly.

“Maybe a little too much freedom…” Erin said, her face flushing. Obviously Holtzmann had either forgotten or just didn’t care about that fact that she was currently naked.

“We’ll have to get her some new clothes—my god, you’re all sweaty,” Abby commented, coming up beside the physicist.

“I’m fine.”

Abby rolled her eyes. “Holtzmann, sweetie, come over here and put this jacket on before you break Erin.”

The blonde grinned, but did as Abby asked, slipping into the jacket and holding it closed around herself. “So, when do I get to see where the magic happens?”

“Right up these stairs.” Abby led Holtzmann up the stairs, and Erin followed suit (and pretended she didn’t notice the way Holtzmann was exaggerating the movement of her hips as they climbed the stairs).

“Is this HQ?” Holtzmann asked as they reached the second floor. “Very sweet. I’m digging the booths and the gong.” The blonde began walking around the floor, stopping upon reaching the workbench. “A soldering iron. I _am_ in Heaven.”

“Before you get too distracted, we do need to talk about why we broke you out,” Erin said.

“You mean you didn’t do it just for my intoxicating presence?” Holtzmann said, turning to face the two with a grin. Upon seeing them exchange a look, the engineer let out a laugh. “We have a ghost problem.”

“We do,” Abby confirmed with a nod. “And we need your engineering expertise in order to stop them.”

“I am the best in the business,” Holtzmann said with a grin. “Yet, humble. You’ve come to the right person.”

“We know Holtz… that’s why we broke you out…” Erin said, trailing off.

Holtzmann rubbed her hands together. “Shall we begin then? These babies won’t develop themselves.” The blonde moved to the worktable, pulling out a piece of paper and beginning to sketch. “Hello pen and paper; I have missed you.”

“Okay, well, I’m going to order some food for us; you’re probably hungry, right Holtz?”

Holtzmann shrugged. “I’ll eat whenever you want me to.”

Abby and Erin exchanged a look.

“Okay, well, I’m going to order Chinese. What do you like Holtz?”

“I’ll eat whatever you set in front of me.”

Erin looked at Abby again, and the brunette shrugged.

“I guess she’s not picky; make my job easier.”

Holtzmann worked on her plans until the food came, and the smell immediately made her look up.

“I almost forget what Chinese food smelled like,” the blonde said as Abby set the plastic bag on the table. She took a deep breath before adding, “I just want to suck all the smell out of it.”

“You can do something even better: you can eat it,” Abby said, pulling out the takeout containers and handing Holtzmann a pair of chopsticks. “Help yourself.”

The engineer looked between the multiple containers; it had been so long since she’d been able to choose what she wanted. She’d always just eaten whatever sad meal was on the tray in front of her. After a long pause, the blonde dug in, choosing the chow mein noodles first and shoveling some in her mouth.

“Sweet LORD this is amazing,” Holtzmann said, her mouth full. The blonde ate a few more mouthfuls before switching over to the orange chicken. “I forgot that food is supposed to have TASTE.”

Abby and Erin watched her eat; neither of them chose to comment on her manners (or lack thereof). After all, Holtzmann had been in prison for three years; who could blame her behavior?

“Are those potstickers?” Holtzmann asked upon seeing Erin raise one to her mouth.

“Yes. Would you like—“

Holtzmann used her chopsticks to pluck the potstickers from between Erin’s chopsticks, and it soon disappeared into her mouth.

“Help yourself,” Erin said, pulling out another potsticker for herself.

Holtzmann knew she should slow down, but she just couldn’t help it. The food tasted so good, and her stomach was growling, and—

Uh oh.

Holtzmann froze, realizing her mistake.

“Holtzmann? Are you okay?” Abby asked.

The blonde turned away from the table, a hand holding her stomach. “I did bad…”

“What?”

The engineer made to lunge away from the table, only making it a few feet away before she fell to her knees and promptly emptied the contents of her stomach.

-/-

“All right, I managed to get off a few hours early, but I’m not going to be able to do it every night.” Patty stopped in her tracks upon seeing Abby and Erin kneeling on the floor, wearing rubber gloves as they scrubbed the floor. The guard looked over and saw Holtzmann laying in one of the booths, an arm over her eyes. It didn’t take her long to figure out what had happened.

“You let her go crazy with food, didn’t you?” Patty said.

“She was hungry.”

The officer shook her head. “You can’t let her do that. She has been living on bland prison food in consistent rations for three years; introducing this greasy stuff is too much for her stomach. It’s too rich.”

“Great, thanks for telling us now, it really helps,” Erin said, obviously irritated.

Patty gave her a look before she made her way over to Holtzmann, sitting beside her. “Hey Holtzy, how are you feelin’?”

The blonde let out a groan.

“You know I want to feel sorry for you, I really do, but you know better.”

Holtzmann let out another groan.

“You learned your lesson, didn’t you?

The engineer nodded weakly.

“All right, you get your rest, okay?” The guard stood and faced the other two again. “Well, it’s official: according to the state of New York, Jillian Holtzmann is dead.”

“If you don’t show up to my funeral, I’ll be very offended,” the blonde said weakly.

“So, now all that’s left is to decide who will be taking her home,” Patty said.

“Who gets to be the lucky winner?” Holtzmann sang.


	6. Chapter 6

It was decided that Holtzmann would stay with Erin; not because Abby wasn’t willing, but because Patty and Erin both had a vested interest in keeping the surrounding city blocks intact. Abby was a bit of an enabler when it came to Holtzmann and her inventions, to say the least, and no one really wanted to see where that would lead.

“Ah, and here we have the giraffe’s natural habitat,” Holtzmann observed upon entering Erin’s apartment.

Erin let out a huff as she closed the door behind them. “First of all, I’m only three inches taller than you, which hardly qualifies me to be a giraffe. Secondly, make yourself comfortable because this will be your home for a while. Considering you just died, we need time for everyone to forget about you.”

“Unless we tell everyone I’m a ghost,” Holtzmann said with an eyebrow wiggle that told Erin she was seriously considering doing just that.

“We’re not doing that.” Erin disappeared into her bedroom before returning a minute or so later with a pillow, blanket, and an oversized shirt. “My apartment isn’t very big, so you’ll have to sleep on the couch. Sorry if it’s a bit uncomfortable, but it’s all I have—“

“This is the most comfortable thing I have ever laid on,” Holtzmann interrupted as she flopped onto the couch.

“Okay, you don’t have to turn everything into a joke.”

Holtzmann rolled over, looking at Erin. “Do you realize that for the past few weeks, I have been sleeping on a bed made of concrete?”

Erin couldn’t even imagine honestly. “I guess that isn’t comfortable either.”

“It’s not even remotely close.” 

The redhead handed the pillow and blanket over to the engineer. “If you need to use the bathroom, it’s just down to the hall to the right.” Erin handed over the shirt as well.

“Aww, no tiny bowtie on this one?” Holtzmann said as she took the shirt.

“You can continue wearing Abby’s jacket if you want.“

“I have to admit, I am liking the feel of it.”

“Okay, that took a bad turn; just put the shirt on.”

“All riiiight, Holtzy’s gonna put the shirt on,” the blonde said with a grin.

“My room is at the end of the hall if you need me for anything.”

“Anything?” A blonde eyebrow arched, and Holtzmann grinned crookedly.

Erin flushed lightly before giving the engineer a look. “Good night, Holtzmann,” she said before she turned and headed to her room, closing the doorway slightly behind her.

“Good night, you precious cinnamon roll.” Holtzmann adjusted the pillow and turned over, her gaze falling on the bay window a few feet away. She could hear the sounds of the city outside, and after years of silence, it was welcome. The blonde stood and moved to the window, settling there and gazing out over the lights. She was still having trouble believing that she was free; the blonde feared that if she fell asleep, she’d wake up back inside Sing Sing, and that would break her. The engineer let her forehead rest against the glass as she watched the movement in the streets down below.

Around one in the morning, Erin stumbled sleepily into the bathroom, and upon exiting, she noticed Holtzmann sitting in the window.

“Holtzmann?” she said wearily, making her way out to the living room. “Everything okay?”

The blonde turned to look at her, and Erin could see a few tears running down her face. “You ever just watch this city… people always going somewhere, doing something…”

The physicist approached Holtzmann, sitting beside her.

“People don’t even realize it, but that basic aspect of social interaction, just the mere act of seeing other busy people…” Holtzmann tapped on the glass with her finger, letting out a sigh.

“I can’t even imagine what you went through…” Erin said, wishing she knew what else to say.

The engineer was silent for a short while before she said, “I can’t tell you how it feels to be free… but while I’ve left the walls if Sing Sing behind… I’m afraid of how much of the prison may still be with me.”

-/-

Upon waking up the next morning and emerging from her bedroom, Erin found Holtzmann sitting on the couch, and it took her a moment to remember why.

“Good morning,” the redhead said, moving into the kitchen area. “Do you want some coffee?”

Holtzmann rolled off the couch, joining the physicist in the kitchen. “Real coffee?”

Erin’s brow furrowed. “As opposed to fake coffee…?”

“During the first few months in Sing Sing where I was allowed more than plain water, the coffee was so watered down that it was hardly worth drinking.”

“Oh. Well, I am offering you real coffee then.” Erin popped a k-cup into her Keurig Mini and moved to the fridge, pulling out her white chocolate mocha creamer and setting it on the counter.

Holtzmann picked up the creamer and opened it, lifting it to her nose and taking a sniff. She took another sniff before raising the creamer to her lips hesitantly.

“What are you—don’t drink that,” Erin said, turning back with the finished cup of coffee.

“It smells so good.”

“That doesn’t mean you should drink it.”

“That’s _exactly_ what it means.”

“Don’t—“

Holtzmann raised the creamer to the mouth and took a swig, immediately recoiling.

“You really have to learn the hard way, don’t you?” Erin said, sliding the coffee mug over to the blonde.

“I experience the world with my mouth,” Holtzmann said, offering the physicist a wink.

Erin flushed at that. “Just drink your coffee.”

Holtzmann grinned as she poured far more creamer than necessary into her mug before taking a large gulp. “Coffeeeee.”

The redhead had begun making her own coffee, and she pulled out her phone, opening the notepad app before she handed it to Holtzmann.

“Dr. Gilbert, I’m flattered, but I don’t currently have a phone, or a number to give you,” Holtzmann said as she took the phone.

“Abby wants you to make a list of everything you need to rebuild the PKE meter,” Erin said.

“Oh, Erin, you precious cinnamon giraffe, I am so far past the PKE meter. When I was in that lab last night, my brain was a beehive of ideas, and these little honey bees want to create proton grenades and a containment chamber and—“

“Okay, well, my apartment is only so big, so you need to prioritize your… bees.”

Holtzmann’s brow furrowed slightly. “Wait… I have to stay here?”

Erin shifted a bit uncomfortably; she hadn’t wanted to be the one to break this news to the engineer. “Holtzmann… you’re dead. We can’t transport you all around the city right now, it’s too risky. We just have to wait a few weeks—“

“No, ‘we’ don’t have to wait. I have to wait; I have to be the one cooped up in here,” Holtzmann said, a dark look crossing her face.

Erin was suddenly reminded of the incident at Sing Sing, the way Holtzmann had lost her temper, and she felt her muscles tense, ready in case she needed to avoid any lashing out.

“Holtzmann, it’s not forever, and I’ll bring you whatever you need—“

“That is no better than prison!”

“Maybe you’d like to go back then!” Erin found herself yelling back; she hadn’t even been aware that she’d raised her voice. “Look, Abby, Patty, and I all risked a lot breaking you out of Sing Sing; the least you could do is show your appreciation by listening to me! Now I am sorry that you have to stay here, but I am offering to bring you whatever it is you need, so instead of bitching about it, maybe you could manage a thank you!”

Holtzmann was slightly taken aback by Erin’s outburst, but that was a challenge, and she had never taken well to challenges. The blonde refused to back down, and said, “The only reason you broke me out was because you need me, so don’t pretend you did it out of the goodness of your heart.”

Erin had to admit that Holtzmann had her there, but she was just as stubborn as the engineer. “All right, maybe Abby and I did have something to gain, but what about Patty?”

Holtzmann’s expression softened slightly.

“She risked her job to get you out, and she did it because you’re her friend and she cares about you.” Erin paused, trying to gauge Holtzmann’s mood. “And Abby cares too; you’re more to her than just someone to build gadgets for us.”

“And what about you?” Holtzmann asked, her voice softer.

The change in tone caught Erin off-guard, and she had pause to physically make sure her voice wasn’t raised. “What about me?”

Holtzmann shook her head. “Forget it Gilbert,” she said before she returned to the bay window, settling there and turning her gaze to the city outside.

The redhead watched her before letting out a sigh. “Holtzmann…” She trailed off, unsure of what to say. What ended up coming out was, “What size shirt do you wear?”

Holtzmann turned to look at her. “You have a very interesting way of flirting with me. Unorthodox, but it might work, give it some more time.”

“I’m not—what—I just—you need new clothes, and I was just offering to—“ Erin was coloring by the second; how did Holtzmann always manage to turn her words back on her? “Look, do you want your own clothes, or no?”

“My style is very unique Gilbert, and cannot be put on a list. The clothing has to speak to me.”

Erin gave her a flat look. “Impulse buyer. Got it.”

-/-

“How is Holtzmann? Still alive?”

Erin gave Abby a look. “Ha ha, you’re very funny. Yes, she is still alive.”

Abby let out a laugh. “Did you get a material list from her?”

“Yeah, but uh… I don’t know if we’ll be able to get everything on here.”

“Let me see.” Abby took Erin’s phone, her eyes widening behind her glasses. “Does that say americium?”

“Yes it does.”

“… Holtzmann does realize that we can’t just pick that up at the nearest Target right?”

“God, Abby, what are we going to do?” Erin asked, letting out a sigh and pinching the bridge of her nose. “There’s no way we can get our hands on half of this stuff.”

“Maybe you can get some from Columbia…?”

Erin gave her friend a look. “Abby, they fired me. If I walk in there and say ‘Hey, sorry to bother you, I just need to borrow some radioactive isotopes’ they are not going to suddenly change their minds about me and say ‘Sure, and here’s your job back too’.”

“That was good, now what do you say back to them?”

“Abby!”

_“I have a suggestion.”_

The two women jumped at the sudden voice, beginning to look around.

“Holtz? Is that you?” Abby said.

“Damnit Holtzmann, I told you to stay in the apartment!” Erin said, looking under the workbench.

_“I am in the apartment.”_

“Then why am I hearing your voice?”

_“Or are you?”_

“Holtzmann!”

_“I hacked your phone, Gilbert.”_

Abby and Erin exchanged a look.

_“Impressed?”_

“Holtz, sweetie, how long have you been listening to us?” Abby asked.

_“Long enough to know that my americium is not going to come from Target.”_

“Look, Holtzmann, we want to provide you with what you need, but the items on your list...” Abby trailed off, looking to Erin for help.

“Holtzmann, you’re asking too much,” Erin said bluntly.

It was silent for a bit, and Abby ventured a tentative, “Holtz?”

_“If you ask nicely, I have connections; I can hook you up with a seller.”_

“A seller of radioactive isotopes?” Erin’s brow furrowed. “Isn’t that a bit, I don’t know, suspicious?”

_“I once ordered twelve tons of yellowcake, and the not the kind you bring to your church bake sale. No questions asked.”_

“Oh my god, what did you need that much uranium for?” Erin asked.

_“I can’t remember, I woke up three days later on the floor of my lab with half my clothing burnt off.”_

“Oh my _god_ …”

_“Look, you want my help, and I need these materials.”_

“And how much are these materials going to cost us?” Erin asked (really she meant her, Abby had no real savings to speak of, leaving Erin to be the source of funding for their science).

_“Americium can be yours for the low price of just $1500 a gram, plus shipping and handling.”_

“$1500 a gram?!”

_“If you act now, we’ll throw in a free sample of plutonium, a $4000 value.”_

“Holtzmann, this isn’t funny, I don’t have that kind of money.”

_“If you don’t want me to laugh, don’t rhyme.”_

“Is there any other way for us to acquire these materials?” Abby asked, getting between the two.

_“Welllll, I may know a way for us to score some cash.”_

“I don’t know if I like the sound of that.”

_“Relaaaaxx, it’ll be easy. I’ll do all the hard work; all you have to do is bet on me.”_

“I’m sorry, did you just say bet? As in, bet money?”

_“You heard correctly, my buddy friend.”_

“Oh good, because we haven’t broken enough laws already. I was hoping we’d get to break more.”

-/-

Holtzmann was hungry. It had been an hour or so since she’d hung up with Erin and Abby, and she wasn’t sure how much longer she’d be on her own. The blonde sighed as she rolled off the couch, leaving the particle physics textbook she had been reading open on the couch. Holtzmann made her way to the fridge, opening it hesitantly and peering inside.

“Someone likes organization,” the engineer muttered; everything in the fridge was in neatly stacked, color-coded, labeled Tupperware containers. Holtzmann had a feeling that Erin would notice if she moved anything, let alone took something. She closed the fridge with a sigh, turning her attention to the cupboards and wondering if she should risk venturing there. Would Erin be upset? She had already used the redhead’s laptop to hack into her phone earlier, and who knew how much trouble she’d be in for that when Erin returned home.

Erin’s landline suddenly rang, a lovely rendition of the William Tell Overture, and Holtz grinned before she mimed riding a horse over to the phone.

“City morgue, you kill ‘em, we chill ‘em,” she said upon picking up the phone.

_“Holtzmann?”_

“Patty! My knight in shining armor, how are you?”

_“Are you crazy?!”_

Holtzmann jerked the phone away from her ear at Patty’s sudden outburst, juggling with it a bit.

_“Do you want to get caught? Is that what you want? You want to go back to Sing Sing and never see daylight again?!”_

“No…”

_“Then why the hell are you answering the phone?”_

“… It played a fun song…”

Patty let out a sigh, which came out as a crackle of static. _“Listen, next time wait for the answering machine to pick up, and if it’s me or Abby or Erin, then you can pick up.”_

“Holtzy sorry.”

 _“Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard that before.”_ A pause. _“So, how are you holding up?”_

“Just peachy so far.”

_“I’m gonna stop by tonight with your personal effects from Sing Sing—“_

“My glasses?”

_“If they’re in the bag, then yeah.”_

“And my watch, you know the one with the Geiger counter—“

_“Baby, I don’t know what’s there, I’m just taking whatever they give me.”_

“Well, I at least want my Swiss army knife—“

_“Holtzy.”_

“All riiiiight.”

-/-

“Holtzmann, I’m back. I bought some clothing for you, so tell me if any of it ‘speaks’ to you.”

Holtzmann’s blonde head popped up from where she had been lounging on the couch. “Erin!” She rolled off the couch, making her way over to the redhead and peering inside the bag Erin offered to her. “Three plaid button-ups; you must take me for a stereotypical lesbian.”

“What—I just thought they looked nice.”

Holtzmann grinned before she resumed her rummaging. “Black and brown pants—you know me so well—and what is this?” Holtzmann pulled out a grey waistcoat, giving Erin a look. “Dr. Gilbert, I do believe you have a hidden fetish of seeing me dressed rather dapper.”

Erin’s flush extended down to her chest, and she snatched the waistcoat away from the blonde. “It was Abby’s idea, she said it was quirky like you, but if you don’t want it—“

“I didn’t say that.” Holtzmann took the bag from the physicist. “These clothes don’t just speak to me; they sing.” The blonde offered Erin a smile. “Just what the doctor ordered.”

Erin could feel her face growing hotter, and she cleared her throat before she said, “Well, try them on then, make sure they fit.”

“I will, but first, I would love to take a shower.”

“Why didn’t you shower while I was gone?”

“I had to wait for you to turn on the water.”

Erin’s brow furrowed. “What… was something wrong with the knobs?” The physicist made her way into the bathroom, pulling back the shower curtain and turning the knobs, which began pouring out water. “No, they’re fine, so what—“ The redhead turned to see Holtzmann standing in the doorway, fiddling with the bag in her hands. “Holtz?”

“I won’t take longer than two minutes, three minutes tops.”

It was then that Erin understood what Holtzmann had meant. “Holtz… I’m not timing you. You can take however long you want.”

Holtzmann paused a moment longer before she nodded. “Yeah…” In one swift movement, she dropped the bag and stripped off the shirt she was wearing.

“God, Holtzmann,” Erin said, turning away quickly. “You could warn a person first.”

“I could, but then that would imply there was something wrong with this. Just enjoy the show.”


	7. Chapter 7

_“Take me to church_  
_I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies_  
_I'll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife_  
_Offer me that deathless death_  
_Good God, let me give you my life”_

Patty looked over at Erin, who was looking resolutely at the tea in her hands. “How long has she been singing?”

“The whole time she’s been in the shower, so about… twenty minutes now,” Erin replied.

Holtzmann attempted to hit a high note, her voice going flat again as she did.

“Someone needs to get that girl some singing lessons,” Patty said, shaking her head.

“At least she’s having fun.”

Silence, which was broken only by the sound of Holtzmann attempting to hit another high note.

“Does anyone suspect yet?” Erin asked.

“What, that she’s actually alive? I doubt it; there was an influx of new inmates today, so everyone was focused on that. Holtzmann is already old news, especially considering that her death was ruled natural.”

“Even after that fiasco with Kevin?”

“I kept blondie from saying too much, and I may have ‘accidentally’ misfiled the paperwork.”

Erin looked up at the guard. “But you could lose your job!”

“Erin, I’m already gonna lose my job if they find out Holtzy is still alive; missing paperwork isn’t going to make that any worse.”

“I suppose…”

There was the sound of the water turning off, and a minute or later, Holtzmann emerged from the bathroom, wrapped in a towel and not much else.

“Holtzmann! Really?” Erin quickly looked away, her face coloring.

“You have very delicate sensitivities, don’t you?” the blonde said with a grin. “I’m not even showing anything.” The engineer noticed Patty and her grin widened. “Patty, I can’t tell you how nice it is to be able to communicate with you without having to peer through a slot. Seeing the whole you is a gift, really.”

“And I’m seeing almost the whole you; outside of work that’s a little unsettling, so put some clothes on Holtzy.”

Holtzmann rolled her eyes, her gaze falling on the bag at Patty’s feet. “Is that for me?”

“Yeah, these are your personal effects from Sing Sing.”

Holtzmann took a step forward, but Patty put a hand out, stopping her.

“You gotta put clothes on first; that towel isn’t looking very secure.”

“Fiiiine.” The blonde turned and headed back into the bathroom, closing the door.

There was a knock at the front door, followed by the sound of it unlocking. “Oh, it’s a party in here.”

“Abby, how—I gave you that key for emergencies,” Erin said, having stood up to go answer the door.

“This was an emergency; I couldn’t wait for you to open the door,” the brunette replied as she approached. “Where’s Holtzmann?”

“Getting dressed hopefully,” Erin replied.

Her tone of voice did not go unnoticed by Abby. “What’s the matter? She can’t be that bad, it’s only been a day or so.”

“She’s unpredictable; I don’t know whether to help her out or duck for cover.”

“Just think of it like taking care of a child,” Patty said.

There was a sudden crashing noise, followed by, “I can fix this!”

“A child who breaks everything and needs to be supervised at all times,” the guard amended.

“And you’re taller than her too, so you’ve got that going for you,” Abby said.

“That has nothing to do with this!”

“Ladies.”

The three turned to see Holtzmann leaning against the wall, showing off the new clothes Erin had purchased for her.

“Looking sharp,” Abby said with a nod as Holtzmann approached.

“Am I? I hadn’t noticed.” Holtzmann did a little spin before she lifted a leg up onto the couch, leaning on one arm and looking right at Erin. “Jillian Holtzmann. Virgo. Avid skier. Gluten full. And %100 jazzed to meet you.”

Erin flushed, feeling very self-conscious with all the attention Holtzmann was giving her. “We’ve already met.”

“Have we? I don’t recall.” Holtzmann grinned, obviously pleased with herself.

“Is that normally how you wear your hair?” Patty asked, referring to the gravity-defying look the engineer’s hair had taken on. “I thought maybe that was a reaction to the lab accident.”

Holtzmann laughed, lowering her leg and perching on the arm of the couch. “You are looking at the original Holtzmann; no substitutions, exchanges or refunds. Bless Erin and her hair dryer and oh did I greet those bobby pins like an old friend. At Sing Sing, I would be in trouble for even thinking about bobby pins.”

“Hey, the one time you got your hands on a bobby pin, you were halfway down the cell block before they realized you were out,” Patty said.

“And you would think they would be impressed, but no, I get written up instead,” Holtzmann said, shaking her head.

“Yeah, you’re an unsung hero Holtzy,” the guard said, rolling her eyes. She picked up the bag at her feet and handed it to the blonde.

“Oh, I have missed you guys,” the engineer said as she opened the bag, pulling out a pair of yellow-tinted glasses and slipping them on. “And you as well,” she added as she pulled out a silver watch and a red Swiss army knife.

“Okay, if you’re done fondling your paint-stained overalls, we have work to discuss,” Abby said. “You said you had a way for us to get the cash we needed to buy your radioactive materials.”

“Indeed I do.” Holtzmann began rummaging through the pockets of her jacket in the bag.

“Holtzmann, we need you to focus,” Abby said as she watched the engineer.

“I know it’s in here somewhere… that’s the funniest thing I ever saw,” the blonde muttered as she rummaged. Eventually she pulled out a crumpled pamphlet with an “Ah-ha!” and held it out triumphantly.

“The Landmark Theater?” Erin said, taking the pamphlet from her.

“Exactly.”

“Wait, I’ve read about this place,” Patty said as she took the pamphlet from the redhead. “They hold some kind of robot fights down in the catacombs.”

“The theater has catacombs?” Abby asked.

“Nah, that’s just a nickname they’ve given the basement ‘cause of the way it’s set up.”

“Hold, on back up,” Erin said, starting to connect the dots. “Holtzmann, are you proposing we enter and bet on a robot fight?”

“Yes, exactly,” the engineer said, booping Erin on the nose with her finger.

“Unless the law changed since last time I checked, robot fighting is illegal,” Patty said.

“Only if there is an exchange of money,” Holtzmann said.

“That’s exactly what you want to do!”

“Where are we going to get a fighting robot?” Abby asked.

“I can build one.”

“Holtzmann, no.”

The engineer grinned. “Holtzmann yes.”

-/-

Abby and Patty both left about an hour or so later after the four came to a compromise: they would humor Holtzmann’s request to attend the robot fight, but she would have to wait two weeks. She had that time to build a robot, but she couldn’t leave Erin’s apartment.

(Erin thought that wholly unfair; she had done nothing to deserve her apartment becoming a makeshift workshop).

Holtzmann was now lying on the floor of her living room, drawing up plans for her robot. Erin was attempting to read, but the growling of the engineer’s stomach soon prevented that, and Erin eventually asked, “Holtzmann, if you’re hungry, just get something to eat.”

“What can I have?”

“I don’t care, have whatever you want; you don’t need to ask me for permission.”

Silence. Erin looked up from her book to see that Holtzmann’s pencil had stilled.

“What can I have?” Holtzmann repeated, a bit softer this time.

Of course. Erin wanted to kick herself; for the past three years, every part of Holtzmann’s life had been dictated by someone else. When she could shower, what she could eat, what she had to wear… she had, essentially, been on her way to become institutionalized.

“I can make you anything that’s here,” Erin said, standing up and walking into the kitchen. “Why don’t you come pick something out?”

Holtzmann stood and joined the physicist in the kitchen, and Erin opened the first cabinet. The blonde’s gaze fell on a few cans of Spam, and she let out an involuntary retch, turning away from the cabinet.

“What’s wrong?” Erin asked.

“You have Spam,” Holtzmann said, her tone of voice implying that Erin might as well have had Satan sitting in the cupboard. “How can you stand to have that in your house?”

“It’s just in case something happens and I need emergency food,” Erin replied. “Do you not like Spam?”

“Ever heard of spamloaf?”

“No, but it doesn’t sound appetizing.”

“It’s not; I had to eat it for a week after my second escape attempt. It gave me the worst stomach cramps of my life, and now I can’t even think about it without feeling ill.”

“Oh… okay then.” Erin closed the cupboard and opened the next one. “I could make you some rice and veggies—“

“Please no.”

“How about we just order a pizza?”

-/-

Holtzmann was doing her best to adjust to life outside of Sing Sing, but she couldn’t shake off the feeling that she had left one prison for another. Of course, no one here yelled at her or told her what she could and couldn’t do, but her freedom was still limited to the apartment.

_“Lay that pistol down babe, lay that pistol down  
Pistol packin’ mama, lay that pistol down”_

Holtzmann’s brow furrowed at the sudden music, and she emerged from the bathroom; the music seemed to be coming from Erin’s bedroom. The engineer approached the slightly closed door and peered inside.

There was Erin, dancing around her bedroom as if no one were watching. Holtzmann grinned broadly as she watched the redhead, whose dancing consisted of at least 75% finger movements.

“Aww yeah, get it, get it,” Holtzmann encouraged as she pushed the door open.

Erin jumped before she whipped around, her face red. “Holtzmann!”

“Gilbert!”

“How—how long have you been standing there?”

“Long enough,” Holtzmann replied, raising her arms up and gyrating her hips a few times.

That only seemed to add to Erin’s embarrassment, and she went over to where a vinyl record player sat on a small table in the corner, lifting the needle off of the record.

“Why the impromptu dance party, and why wasn’t I invited?” Holtzmann asked.

“I just needed to de-stress a little,” Erin replied, not looking at the engineer.

“Rough day?”

Erin nodded, and Holtzmann let her gaze wander around the room. It was the first time she had seen Erin’s bedroom, and she wondered what she could learn about the redhead. Her gaze fell on a box on the floor, and she could see several framed awards sitting in it.

Erin followed her gaze, and made to intercept the engineer. “Those need to be put away—“

Holtzmann beat her to the box, pulling one aware out. “These are some of the most prestigious awards in the area of Physics.” Holtzmann looked up at Erin; she had known Erin was brilliant, yes, but this… “And there’s more in here; why are they in a box?”

Erin took the award from the blonde, putting it back in the box and pushing said box under her bed. “They don’t matter now.”

The engineer then realized that the box had a familiar look to it. “You were fired.”

The word seemed to make Erin flinch. “Yes, well, who wants tenure and job security anyway?”

“I know how you feel Gilbert. I lost my job too.”

“You killed someone.”

That was a blow, but the blonde refused to let Erin see. “I guess we both have to live with the consequences of our mistakes then.”

Erin realized that what she had said hadn’t exactly been fair. “Holtzmann—“

“I have to get back to work.”

-/-

_“Take me to church_  
_I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies_  
_I'll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife_  
_Offer me that deathless death_  
_Good God, let me give you my life”_

Erin let out a sigh from where she was getting ready for the day. It was day four since Holtzmann had been staying with her, and the engineer had thrown herself into working on her robot (“working” here being a rather loose term for what Holtzmann did, which involved a great deal of hip gyrations and waving blowtorches about). However, there was only so much of the blonde’s singing that Erin could take, especially considering that so far, she had chosen to sing the same song constantly.

“Either sing a song in your vocal range, or take up lip-synching,” the redhead snapped before she fully realized it.

Holtzmann stopped singing abruptly and looked up from where she had been working. “What was that, Gilbert?”

Erin felt her cheeks grow hot, but she stood firm, saying, “You heard me.”

“Let’s hear you do better then.”

The redhead only colored further. “This isn’t about me—“

“Come on, give us a verse, pistol packin’ mama.”

Erin opened her mouth, and then closed it as she turned and headed for the front door. “I’ll see you later Holtzmann.”

“Come on!”

-/-

A single tungsten light bulb was only enough to dimly light the room, but that was enough for what he needed.

“The device is not ready yet, but it will be. More tormented spirits will weaken the barrier.”

A sort of gravelly whisper filled the room, and Rowan paused.

“Yes, the four could be a problem, but I will eliminate them—“

The whisper filled the room again.

“But the engineer—“

The whispering persisted.

“Yes, I suppose so. Enjoy your freedom while it lasts, Dr. Jillian Holtzmann.”

-/-

_BzzzzzZZZZZZZZAP!_

A swear followed by a laugh, and the noise resumed.

Erin let out a frustrated sigh as she yanked the pillow off her head, glancing over at the clock on her nightstand. 2 A.M. “That’s it,” the redhead muttered, getting out of bed and making her way out into the living room. “Holtzmann, it is two in the morning. I have accepted the fact that you have to stay with me because someone has to ensure that you don’t blow up half of New York, but we have to have some sort of ground rules.” Erin paused for a response, but Holtzmann seemed captivated by the robot in front of her. “Did you hear me?”

“Look, I gave it a tiny flamethrower,” Holtzmann said with a grin; she was about as proud as a parent whose child had just rolled over for the first time, and felt the need to tell everyone whether they wanted to hear about it or not.

“That’s cute Holtzmann, but I am trying to sleep—“

“Oh, did I wake you?”

Erin set her jaw with a sigh. “It’s just a little loud, and I do have neighbors, and I don’t know if they fully appreciate the noise this late at night… early in the morning… both, either, I don’t know.”

“Ahh, I read you loud and clear Er Bear.” Holtzmann gave her an exaggerated wink and made a circle with her forefinger and thumb.

"Good." Erin nodded, and there was a pause. "Glad we agree then." Another pause. "Well... good night."

"I think you mean good morning."

"Fine, good morning then, just please go to sleep."


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who has read so far :) I will be doing NaNoWriMo this month, so updates may slow down a bit, so please bear with me! Thank you again :)

Erin was, to put it simply, a nervous wreck as the four walked through the doors of the Landmark Theater.

“Someone is going to recognize you,” the redhead muttered as Holtzmann pushed the cart with her covered robot on it across the lobby.

“Nahhh,” the blonde drawled. “If anyone asks, I’ll tell them I’m a Libra, and everyone knows Jillian Holtzmann is a Virgo.”

“Yes, that will throw them all off,” Erin muttered.

The four reached the elevator, and Holtzmann suddenly paused as the others got in.

“You know, I think I’ll take stairs,” the engineer said, pushing her cart to Abby. “Take good care of Ecto-1 for me.”

“Holtzmann—“

The blonde had already turned away, and the doors closed.

“That was weird,” Erin said as the elevator began its descent. “I mean, for Holtzmann.”

“It’s the enclosed space,” Patty said. “It reminds her too much of her cell.”

Upon reaching the basement, the group found Holtzmann waiting, and she took her cart back from Abby as they made their way through the catacombs.

“Do you know where we’re going?” Erin asked.

“Of course Er Bear.”

The two rounded a corner and came across a large room where a makeshift cage had been set up, and quite a few people were gathered around. The sound of buzzing saws and crunching metal echoed off the walls, and as the group approached, they could see pieces of destroyed robots littering the floor of the cage. The gathered crowd was cheering, and Erin could see a great deal of money changing hands.

“Well, well, if it isn’t Ghost Girl and her sidekick Fat-Butt.”

Erin pressed her tongue into her cheek at the voice, and the four turned to face a man about their age with dark, slicked back hair. “Hello Carl.”

“You look lost; lose your way chasing a ghost?”

“No, as a matter of fact, we are here to… fight robots,” Erin said. “As you do.”

Carl let out a bark of laughter at that, and Erin could feel the unpleasant prickling of embarrassment from her childhood coming back to her. “You’re going to fight robots? I’d love to see the hunk of metal you brought.”

“Oh, you will see it,” Abby said. “And it’s going to kick your robot’s sorry ass, so start preparing a grave.” With that, the brunette turned and led the group away before he could reply.

“Who was that asshole?” Holtzmann asked.

“Just someone we went to school with,” Erin replied, her tone bitter.

“What’s with the nicknames?”

Erin’s fists clenched, and Abby said, “It doesn’t matter because we are going to reduce his robot to a pile of scrap metal.”

“Abby, did you forget he built fighting robots in high school? That’s the project that beat ours.”

“Yeah, but now we have a brilliant engineer; he doesn’t stand a chance.”

Holtzmann gave Erin a two-finger salute and a wink before she returned to looking over her robot, making sure it was fighting fit.

“How’s the Ecto-1 looking Holtz?” Abby asked.

“Peachy keen, Abby bean.”

_“Place your bets!”_

“That’s our cue,” Holtzmann said before she gestured to Patty. “Help me lift this.”

The two lifted the robot off the cart and set it in front of the entrance to the cage, and Holtzmann pulled the blanket off, revealing the Ecto-1. The blonde had painted it white and red, and had added a cartoon ghost with a red “no” symbol.

“Oh, you gotta be kidding me,” Patty said.

“It’s awesome right? I think it makes a killer logo,” the engineer replied before she turned on her remote control, bringing the robot to life and directing it inside the cage. “All right, my precious baby, let’s show them how it’s done.”

Across the cage stood Carl, who directed his own robot inside the cage. It was equipped with one large saw blade and a sort of clawed hand, and that was just what Erin could see.

“Be careful Holtz,” Abby said as the two robots began to approach each other. “He’ll pretend he’s down and strike when you least expect it.”

“Oh, he won’t be pretending,” Holtzmann said with a grin.

The two robots had reached one another, and with a speed far greater than what Erin had expected from a robot that size, Carl’s robot grabbed the Ecto-1 with its clawed hand, the buzz saw coming to life. The saw made its way down towards the smaller robot, beginning to cut through the metal.

“Holtzy, this is gonna be a quick fight,” Patty said, voicing what they were all thinking.

“Relaaax,” the blonde drawled. “I’ve got it all under control.” Holtz pressed a button on her remote, and a cage popped up from the exposed area, knocking the buzz saw back. “Aww yeah, we got a freakin’ faraday cage!” The engineer turned the joysticks hard, and the Ecto-1 whipped out of Carl’s robot’s grasp. “Say hello to my little friend!”

The flamethrower that Holtzmann had been so proud of deployed, emitting a small and narrow stream of fire.

“Holtz, I think you need more juice,” Abby said as Carl’s robot easily drove through the flames.

“Hold on, give it a minute.”

The buzz saw had come to life again, but before it could strike, the flames suddenly increased tenfold, engulfing the other robot.

“Oh my god, Holtzmann,” Erin said, though she couldn’t deny that this was actually exciting.

“I’m flattered you want to make me your god, Gilbert,” the blonde replied with a grin.

The clawed hand suddenly emerged from the flames, grabbing the end of the flamethrower and ripping it off the Ecto-1, stopping the flames.

“Okay, minor setback.”

The grill of the other robot suddenly started churning while the clawed hand began pulling the Ecto-1 closer.

“A shredder in the grill; classic,” Holtzmann said.

Erin could see Carl smirking from the opposite side of the cage as the Ecto-1’s wheels spun in a fruitless effort to escape, and the memory of the defeat from the high school science fair came back to her.

“Come on Holtz, it can’t end like this,” the physicist found herself saying.

“Don’t you worry, you precious giraffe, I have an escape.” The blonde pushed a button, and the Ecto-1 let out a few beeps before being blasted into the air. “Prototype proton grenade, working like a charm.” The engineer pressed another button, and a large blade popped up from the top of the Ecto-1. “ And now we end this.”

The Ecto-1 came down hard on Carl’s robot, the blade driving right through the top.

“Is it dead?” Patty asked.

“It will be.” Holtzmann handed the controller over to Erin, who took it awkwardly. “Erin, you do the honors, just put your finger on that red trigger there and go to town.”

“Oh, um… okay.” The physicist pressed the trigger down, and an electric current began to rip through Carl’s robot. Erin could see the smug look finally falling off his face, and the redhead felt a surge of victory. She pressed the trigger down even harder, watching Carl’s face change to one of disbelief.

“Erin? Erin!”

“What?”

“You can stop.”

The redhead looked back down at the robots, seeing that Carl’s robot was little more than a charred heap of scrap metal. “Oh.”

_“The winner, through some miracle, Ecto-1!”_

“Yeah!” Holtzmann stood, throwing her arms up in victory. “We demolished a robot!”

Erin couldn’t help but grin as she watched Holtzmann celebrate and exchange a complicated high five with Abby that they apparently had just made up on the spot. The redhead shook her head and stuck the end of her tongue out at them (and panicked a little when Holtzmann attempted to lift the Ecto-1 above her head, which would have gone much worse had Patty not intervened).

_“Erin.”_

The physicist paused, looking around. She could have sworn she heard someone say her name…

_“Erin.”_

There it was again. The redhead began to make her way through the crowd, trying to find the source of the whispering. Her gaze suddenly fell on a blue figure, and she realized it was a ghost. She knew she should call out to the others, let them know there was a ghost here, but something was holding her back. She had to follow this ghost, find out what it wanted.

The ghost, who looked like a woman, began to float away, and Erin followed it through the winding catacombs, eventually emerging into the empty theater. The redhead swore she could hear the sound of swing music and laughter, all encased by the dull hubbub of conversation. The ghost ahead had come to stop and faced her, and as Erin drew closer, she could see that it was a woman dressed in a flapper-style dress, a wispy boa draped over her shoulders. She extended a hand out to the redhead, and Erin could almost hear a sort of whisper, beckoning her even closer. The physicist reached out her own hand, her heart pounding at the prospect of making physical contact with a ghost.

There was the sound of screaming, and Erin’s heart shot up into her throat.

“Erin!”

Strong arms wrapped around her, and the redhead found herself halfway dangling over the edge of the upper mezzanine, Holtzmann being the only thing keeping her from toppling over. Patty and Abby were holding onto the back of Holtzmann’s shirt, and they pulled the other two back away from the edge, collapsing in a heap.

“Not the best place to practice your swan dives Gilbert,” Holtzmann said, using the joke to hide the real concern in her voice.

“Erin, what were you thinking?” Abby asked as the four got to their feet.

“I… I don’t know. I saw this ghost, and I just… I had to follow it,” Erin replied.

“You saw a ghost?” Abby was immediately enthralled. “Another class IV?”

“Yeah, she had a distinct human form… she was dressed like a flapper or something…”

“You know, this theater was a popular spot in the twenties,” Patty said. “Supposedly an actress fell from the upper mezzanine, but they were never able to determine the reason for the suicide.”

“And she tried to make me do the same…” Erin and Abby exchanged looks. “The ghosts are escalating.”

Abby nodded. “We need to capture a ghost soon so we can study it. Let’s collect our winnings and head back to HQ.”

The others nodded in agreement and headed back to the catacombs, where they found Carl pummeling the Ecto-1 with a pipe he had most likely found in one of the tunnels.

“NO!” Holtzmann’s face immediately changed and she rushed at him. “Not my baby!” The blonde shoved him away as the others quickly approached.

“That’s what you deserve,” Carl said, tossing the pipe aside. “No bitch gets away with destroying my bot, especially not you, Ghost Girl—“

In on swift movement, Holtzmann had lunged forward and thrown a punch, which connected solidly with Carl’s nose.

“Hey!” Patty grabbed the blonde’s arms, pulling her back and putting her in classic restraining hold used for inmates. “Don’t be stupid, he’s not worth it.”

“Come on, call her Ghost Girl again!” Holtzmann shouted, struggling against Patty’s hold.

“Patty, get her out of here,” Abby said.

“Let’s go,” the guard said, beginning to lead a protesting and struggling Holtzmann away.

Abby and Erin turned back to Carl, who was holding his now bleeding nose.

“That bitch is crazy,” he said, his voice thick through the blood.

“Maybe, but just remember that as crazy as she is, we’re ten times as bad,” Abby said. She gave him a look before she and Erin loaded what was left of the Ecto-1 onto the cart and left the fight behind.

-/-

Holtzmann couldn’t sleep. She had had many sleepless nights in her life, even before her time at Sing Sing, but tonight she couldn’t sleep for a very different reason. The image of Erin almost toppling over that railing… god, if she had reacted a second later, she would have missed and Erin…

No. She couldn’t think that way. She had moved quickly enough, and they had pulled Erin back from the edge.

“Hey.”

The blonde was jerked from her thoughts by the sound of Erin’s voice, and she looked up to see the physicist approaching.

“Can’t sleep?”

“No… too much in my brain,” Holtzmann replied, looking back out the bay window. “What about you?”

“Same.” That was a lie. Erin had been plagued by nightmares and flashbacks of the ghost from her childhood, and was doing her best to stave off her panic attack. The redhead approached hesitantly, sitting beside the blonde. “I… I never thanked you for today… for what you did at the theater.”

“The robot show was for all of you.”

“No, I meant… when you saved me from, you know, falling to my death.”

Holtzmann shrugged. “It’s what I do.”

“Well, thank you.” Erin reached over to give Holtzmann’s hand a light squeeze, and the blonde looked over at her.

“You’re shaking.”

Erin quickly pulled her hand away. “I’m fine.”

A pause, and then, “You don’t have to say it out loud; just know that I understand.”

The physicist looked up at the engineer, seeing that she was looking back out the window. “When I was eight… the mean old lady next door died. That night, when I went to bed… she was there. She would stand there and open her mouth and blood would pour out onto my bed. I would cover my head with the blanket and wait until morning. She did that every night for a year… my parents never believed me, still don’t. I had to go to therapy, and the kids at school found out… Abby was the only one who believed me.”

Holtzmann was looking at her now, and after a brief pause, she said, “I have some questions.”

Erin gave her a look, and the blonde grinned before giving her a wink.

“I believe you Er Bear, and if we ever see that mean old lady ghost again, I will punch them in the face.”

“That’s very sweet of you, but I don’t think that’s physically possible.”

“I’ll find a way.”

The redhead smiled and said, “Well, I guess we should try and sleep now.” She flushed a bit as she realized how that sounded. “Not together, I mean, but sleeping in separate rooms… like we’ve been doing.”

Holtzmann grinned before she nodded, running a hand through her hair. “You can go to bed Gilbert; I can’t sleep yet.”

Erin nodded as well, fully intending to stand up and return to her bedroom.

What happened was not what she expected. It was hard to say who moved first, but Erin suddenly found her lips meeting Holtzmann’s in a gentle kiss. Her mind went blank for a few moments, and when the two broke apart, she found her brain refused to form words.

“You smell like grapefruit,” Holtzmann said after a long pause.

“…Good night Holtzmann,” Erin said before she stood and quickly fled into the bedroom, touching her still tingling lips once she was out of sight.


	9. Chapter 9

It was the blaring sound of the smoke alarm and the scent of something burning that jerked Erin from her sleep, and the redhead became tangled in the sheets as she scrambled to get out of bed.

“Holtzmann!” she called as she began to run from the room, already planning an escape route through the apartment building. “Holtzmann, there’s a fire, we need to get out! Holtzmann!” The physicist stopped upon reaching the kitchen, seeing a rather sheepish looking Holtzmann standing there, two pieces of blackened toast in hand.

“Heeeeyyy,” she drawled upon seeing the physicist. “Did I wake you?”

Erin crossed her arms with a sigh, giving the engineer a look. “What are you doing?”

“Making breakfast, obviously.” Holtzmann slapped the two pieces of toast onto a plate in an artful manner, offering it to the redhead. “Toast?”

A slim eyebrow arched. “I don’t think that can be called toast.” A pause. “How did you even manage that?”

“I may have tweaked your toaster a bit.”

“Okay, new rule: leave my kitchen appliances alone.”

Holtzmann made a face. “But just think of the possibilities—“

“If any of those possibilities include burning down my apartment, I want no part of them.”

The blonde let out a dramatic sigh. “Fiiiine.” She picked up a piece of blackened toast and took a bite.

“Don’t eat that, are you kidding me?” Erin said, approaching the blonde and taking the plate and toast from her. She set in the sink, her gaze falling on her toaster, which was currently emitting wisps of black smoke. “How about you let me handle the cooking from now on?”

“Whatever you say Er Bear,” Holtzmann replied, hopping up to sit on the counter. “So what’s for breakfast then? I’m feeling something… cocoa-y.”

“… I don’t know what that means. How about eggs?”

“I can get on board with that.”

Erin nodded and moved to pull out a frying pan; now that it was obvious they were not in imminent danger of a fire, thoughts and questions were beginning to form in her mind, the foremost being the kiss she and Holtzmann had shared last night. The redhead glanced at the blonde, who was currently amusing herself with Erin’s smoking toaster. The physicist wondered if she should even bring it up; it was entirely possible that Holtzmann had forgotten about it by now. Her mind did seem to shift gears rapidly.

“By the way, I’ve arranged to pick up the americium today,” the engineer suddenly said.

“I know I’m going to regret this, but I must ask: how do you plan to do that?”

“It’s being delivered here, of course—“

“You gave my address to an illegal radioactive isotope dealer?!” Erin whipped around to face the engineer, who was grinning.

“Easy Gilbert, you’ll give us both whiplash. And I’m only kidding, I would never be so irresponsible.”

Erin gave her a look.

“We’re pretending I’m responsible, work with me here. I’m meeting him down by the docks for the exchange.”

“Yes, that sounds much more responsible.” Erin let out a sigh, not appreciating being made to panic twice before breakfast.

“Don’t worry Gilbert, it’ll be an easy exchange. I give him the money, he gives me the americium.”

“How much americium is he giving you exactly?”

“Enough.”

“And have you stopped to consider how you’re going to transport all that back here without drawing attention to yourself?”

“I was thinking if I wore a trench coat—“

“Holtzmann.”

“No listen, it’s going to work—“

“This is a bad idea, and I’m calling Patty.”

Holtzmann’s face changed at that. “Why do you have to call her, I’m sure she’s very busy, we shouldn’t bother her.”

“Because when you think a bad idea is a good idea, Patty is the only one you listen to.” Erin moved to get her phone, but Holtzmann moved to intercept her.

“Hold on, we can talk about this, maybe we can come up with a compromise. Which part of the plan are you uncomfortable with?”

“All of it.”

“You’re killing me Gilbert.”

“Patty it is then.”

“Okay, fine, what do you suggest instead? I’ve already arranged the drop, so someone has to go pick it up. And by someone I mean me because this guy won’t trust strangers.”

Erin let out a sigh, running a hand through her hair. “I still don’t think it’s a good idea for you to be running loose in New York right now—“

“It’s been a month—“

“It’s been two weeks Holtzmann.”

“That’s plenty of time for people to have forgotten all about me and moved on to the next psychopath.”

Erin shook her head. “The four of us are going to have to talk about this, so until then, please stay out of trouble?”

Holtzmann grinned. “When have you known me to do anything else?”

-/-

“I can’t believe you all sided against me.”

“Well, Erin, what else could we do? Holtzmann said it herself, she needs to be the one to pick up the americium from the buyer.”

Erin let out a long sigh, prompting Abby to roll her eyes.

“Look, she has Patty with her, and if anyone can keep Holtzmann under control, it’s Patty.”

“I still don’t like it,” the physicist muttered.

“What’s been going on with you today anyway? You were acting very weird earlier.”

“Really, you watched Holtzmann put a whole bag of gummy bears on her pizza, and I’m the one acting weird?”

“I expect that type of behavior from Holtz; weird for her would be if she sat quietly.” Abby moved to sit on the couch beside her friend, handing her a mug of hot chocolate. “You on the other hand were sweating like it was a paid profession.”

“I was not…” Erin lied half-heartedly in a pitiful attempt to save face.

“What’s going on Erin? Don’t shut me out again.”

The redhead sighed, closing her eyes for a few moments as she tried to gather her feelings and find the right words. “Last night… I may have… it’s possible that I… accidentally kissed Holtzmann…”

Abby’s brow furrowed. “I don’t understand, how did you ‘accidentally’ kiss her? Did you trip and she caught you with her lips?”

“Abby, I’m being serious.”

“No, you’re not, not when you say you ‘accidentally’ kissed Holtzmann. You know I’m the last person to judge you—“

“You sent Holtzmann a picture of me with devil horns and a mustache.”

“I was mad at you when I did that, can we move on? Just tell me what happened.”

-/-

“So wait, you actually kissed her? Like, full on kissed her on the lips? Not one of those awkward cheek kisses?”

“Yep.”

“How did she react? Did she kiss you back?”

Holtzmann paused as she recalled; honestly, she couldn’t remember who had actually initiated it. “I don’t know, she kinda ran away.”

Patty’s face fell. “Damn, are you that bad of a kisser?”

“No! Here, let me show you how I kissed her and you can tell me—“  
“You kiss me and I will put you back in that cell myself.”

Holtzmann grinned.

“But why did you two kiss in the first place? I mean, Erin’s great, but she seems so…”

“Not me?”

“Yeah, exactly. Like, if one of you were a superhero, the other would be your arch enemy.”

“Which one of us is the super villain?”

Patty gave her a look. “I think you know.”

Holtzmann grinned again. “Now listen Patty-cake, when we meet this guy, you can’t go all C.O. on him, okay?”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“You know, it’s just that sometimes you give off a very… cop vibe.”

Patty gave the blonde a look.

“Yeah, see, just like that.”

“I’ll do my best.” A pause. “How much of this stuff are we transporting again?”

“Just two briefcases.”

“Yeah, because that’s not too suspicious. I hope they’re made of metal and handcuffed to our wrists too.”

“You may get your wish; here comes our seller now.”

Patty looked up to see a figure approaching, and she and Holtzmann got to their feet.

“Hey Charlie,” the blonde started, approaching the wiry man.

“Th-that’s close enough,” Charlie replied, pulling a gun from his belt and stopping the two women in their tracks.

“Charlie, easy, it’s just me,” Holtzmann said, moving slightly in between Patty and the twitchy man.

“You—you brought someone with you. I thought the Shadowcat worked alone.”

“Shadowcat? Really?” Patty muttered.

Holtzmann gave the officer a look. “It was a long time ago, now is not the time.” The blonde turned back to Charlie before she said, “Things are a little hot right now and I need muscle, you know?”

“They said you died in prison.”

“Well if that’s true then I’m a ghost, and that gun will do you no good.”

A few tense moments passed before Charlie lowered the gun. “You got the money?”

“Of course I do; what do you take me for?” Holtzmann pulled out a duffel bag, and Charlie made a grab for it, but the blonde pulled it away. “You know how this works: show me the merchandise, and then you get your money.”

There was a long pause, and Charlie’s eyes darted between Holtzmann and the duffel bag.

“Hold on; you’re not even carrying anything,” Patty said, taking a step forward.

Holtzmann’s gaze narrowed. “Where is it Charlie? Where’s the merchandise?”

Charlie lunged for the bag, but Holtzmann held firm, even as he struggled to yank it from her grip.

“C-come on, let go!”

Holtzmann grabbed the man by the front of his shirt, hauling him up. “Where’s my merchandise?” she growled.

“I-I don’t have it, okay?”

“What do you mean, you don’t have it? Who has it?”

“I can’t—“

“You tell me who has it or I swear to God I’ll make those isotopes a part of your body—“

“That’s enough,” Patty said firmly, physically separating the two. “Now you listen here Twitchy; look into this woman’s eyes. Do you think she’s playing?”

A pause as Charlie examined the blonde, who looked ready to throttle him.  
“I can only hold her back for so long, so if you want to stay alive, you tell us who has the merchandise.”

“My boss...”

“So what, he sent you to get the money, thinking I’d just give it to you?” Holtzmann snapped.

“No… he wants you,” Patty said as realization came to her. She looked back at the engineer before she added, “He came to get you, but he couldn’t do that because of me.”

“Is that how it is Charlie? You came for me?” Holtzmann said, looking at him.

“You were supposed to be alone.”

A long pause before Holtzmann said, “Fine, we’ll play it your way.”

“No, absolutely not; are you out of your mind?” Patty said, pushing the blonde a few steps back. “You are not going anywhere with Twitchy here; who knows who his boss is or what he wants.”

“Relax, I’m a ghost remember? This is all about money for them, and I have the money.”

“You are supposed to be dead, and if other people start finding out that you’re not, there is going to be real trouble. We can get the stuff another way—“

“How? We need this.”

“No we don’t—“

“A ghost tried to kill Erin; I am not going to let that happen again, so either work with me here, or get out of my way.”

Patty shook her head before she said, “That kiss wasn’t just a kiss, was it?”

Holtzmann didn’t reply to that, instead saying, “I might get a little lost on the way back after this deal, so apologize to Erin for me? I still owe her a decent breakfast.”

The officer sighed before she said, “You are not allowed to die, you hear me? I already saw what that looks like, and I don’t want to see it for real, you understand?”

The blonde nodded. “Loud and clear Patty-cake.” Holtzmann gave the officer one last smile before she approached Charlie. “Lead the way.”

-/-

“They should have been back by now.”

Abby looked up from where she had been reading. “Hmm?”

“Holtzmann and Patty.” Erin looked at the clock for what seemed like the hundredth time. “They should have been back by now.”

“I’m sure they’re fine.”

“But what if they’re not?” Erin got to her feet, beginning to pace. “What if something happened? I knew we shouldn’t have let them do this, this is why deals like this are illegal!”

“Erin, you’re getting all worked up for no reason, I’m sure everything is fine.”

A knock at the door caught the attention of the two women.

“See, what did I tell you? Soon enough you’ll be free to ‘accidentally’ kiss Holtzmann all you want.”

Erin scowled at her friend before she went to the door and opened it, letting Patty in. “Where’s Holtzmann?”

“Oh, uh… she’s gone.”

Erin stared at her for a long moment before she said, “I’m sorry, what?”

“What do you mean, Holtzmann is gone?” Abby asked, approaching the two.

“We met the guy, but it turned out he never had the merchandise. His boss does, but he wanted to see Holtzy alone, so she went to meet him.”

“And you let her?” Erin was having trouble believing this whole situation. “See, see what you did Abby? You said it would all be okay, and as you can see, this is very NOT OKAY.”

Abby gave the physicist a look. “Look, we’re all panicking a bit too early. I’m sure Holtzmann knows exactly what she’s doing. In fact, I bet she is getting that americium right now, and we will see her in time for breakfast.”

-/-

Holtzmann recoiled at the sudden bright light as the hood was yanked off her head. The engineer could feel her wrists bound behind her in the chair she was sitting in, and she looked up to see a man in a white suit sitting across from her.

“I hope your ride over was comfortable, Dr. Holtzmann? You’ll forgive the hood of course; after all, one must be discreet.”

Holtzmann let out a short laugh. “You know, that floppy hat and cane of yours don’t exactly scream ‘discreet’.”

“Thank you, they were my mother’s.”

“So what does the great Martin Heiss want with little ol’ me? Wait, don’t tell me: you just really enjoy my sparkling personality.”

Heiss shook his head with a short chuckle. “You know, when I heard that you had died in prison due to ‘natural causes’, I thought to myself ‘now that just can’t be right’. I mean, your whole reputation is built on the fact that you are one of the most accident-prone geniuses alive, and yet, you escape every fiasco without a scratch. Unlike the poor lab assistant you locked in the particle accelerator.”

Holtzmann made to lunge for him, but her restraints held her back.

“I figured you had finally pissed off the wrong people, and the prison was just sweeping it all under the rug. But then, wouldn’t you know it, a mysterious newcomer managed to clean up at a robot fight, and a few days later, I’m getting an order for americium. Now who do you suppose could have done such a thing?”

“Obviously someone reckless and irresponsible.”

Heiss smiled at her, shifting his cane a bit before he said, “How did you do it?”

“What, win your little guessing game? The clues you gave were pretty easy—“

“How did you get out of Sing Sing?”

“Ah. Well, I’d tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.”

“I see. You had help then.” Heiss shook his head. “This really is unfortunate news,” he sighed. He turned his gaze back to Holtzmann before he added, “For you I mean, and your friends. I don’t imagine you’ll be able to break out of Sing Sing again if all your friends join you.”

Holtzmann’s expression faltered. “You know what they say, Heiss: snitches get stitches.”

Heiss placed a hand on his chest, looking dramatically offended. “I am hurt, really hurt, that you think I would turn you over for no good reason. No, I plan to keep your dirty little secret, but now it’s time for you to listen because this is what you’re going to do for me.”


	10. Chapter 10

Erin had had many sleepless nights in her life, but they had all been because of nightmares, or visions of ghosts trying to throttle her in her bed. The reason that Erin Gilbert could not sleep tonight was because of something far more terrifying. For hours, the redhead paced between her bedroom and the living room, occasionally stopping to look out the bay window. The people below carried on with their lives; they cared nothing for her plight, they weren’t kept awake by crushing anxiety that was repeatedly telling the physicist that Holtzmann was dead.

_She’s not dead._

_Fine, she’s not dead. She’s just being slowly tortured, and wishing she were dead. She’s cursing you right now and wishing you had just left her in Sing Sing because at least there, her blood was staying in her body instead of dripping down onto the floor—_

_STOP._

Erin physically stopped in her pacing, letting out a sigh. Her brain refused to shut up, even after she’d taken her medicine. It was torture, really; it was absolute hell not knowing where Holtzmann was or what had happened to her. Despite all her quirks and panic-inducing recklessness, Erin had grown used to having the blonde in her apartment, and she was finding that on some level, she missed the engineer.

_Plus we never settled what that kiss meant._

Oh god, not this again. Erin’s brain seemed to only be able to bounce between those thoughts, and when she wasn’t worrying about the engineer, she was analyzing that kiss.

_Why? Why did it happen? Why do I care so much?_

She knew why. Deep down, in some deep recess that Erin didn’t want to acknowledge existed, she had liked it. It wasn’t a matter of sexuality; Erin had already admitted that she was bisexual in college. The fact that she had liked a kiss between herself and a woman convicted of manslaughter was what worried her. What did that say about Erin as a person?

_That I like women who wear yellow-tinted glasses and try to drink creamer._

Holtzmann was her exact polar opposite. Erin was neat, organized, and methodical. Jillian Holtzmann was chaotic, impulsive, and imprudent.

_And that terrifies and excites you._

“Shut up, just shut up,” Erin muttered, putting her hands to her head as she sat on her couch, closing her eyes. “Holtzmann is fine, she is going to be just fine, we kissed once and she is going to be perfectly fine.”

-/-

Erin wasn’t sure when she’d fallen asleep, but the redhead awoke to find herself lying on her couch, sunlight streaming in through the window. She sat up with a groan, her neck feeling rather sore, and she rubbed with a sigh.

“So you want to tell me why you were sleeping in my bed—“

Erin let out a scream, throwing a pillow at the unexpected person, which in turn caused them to yell and drop to the floor.

“I’m sorry!”

Erin peered over the top of the couch, seeing Holtzmann lying on the floor, her fingers interlocked behind her head. “Oh my god, Holtzmann! How did you—where have you—you can’t scare me like that!”

“I scared you?” Holtzmann’s voice was muffled by the floor as she talked. “You threw something at me.”

“It was a pillow—“

“Still unwarranted, especially after I brought you breakfast.”

Erin’s brow furrowed. “Why are you still on the floor? And why are you laying like that?”

Holtzmann didn’t reply, and it took Erin a few moments to realize why.

“You can get up Holtzmann.”

“Thank you.” The blonde got to her feet and was immediately pulled into an embrace. “Why Dr. Gilbert, we hardly even know each other—“

“Shut up.” Erin pulled away, an overwhelming wave of feelings crashing into her. She was relived that Holtzmann was all right, of course, but she was also angry and was about two seconds away from bursting into tears. “Where the hell have you been? What were you thinking, going off like that? You could have been recognized, or killed—“

“I was already killed, Er Bear, remember?”

“Holtzmann, you know what I mean! I was up all night worrying about you, and I couldn’t stop myself from thinking about all the terrible things that could be happening to you, and now you’re here and you look relatively unharmed and you brought breakfast, and I just—“ Erin couldn’t finish, and she leaned back against the couch, covering her face with her hands.

“Erin… I’m okay. The only torture I endured last night was listening to a very annoying way of speaking.”

“Well how was I supposed to know that?!” Erin had tears in her eyes now, a sight that felt like a knife in Holtzmann’s chest. “I don’t know if I can do this…”

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t keep worrying about you like this. The thought of someone recognizing you and dragging you back to prison… it’s so stressful that sometimes, I just shake and I can’t…” Erin took a deep breath, trying to calm down.

“… Do you accept poppy seed bagels as a form of apology?”

Erin looked at the blonde, who was offering her a sheepish smile, and she couldn’t help but let out a short laugh. “I suppose it’s a start.”

“Fantastic.” Holtzmann made her way into the kitchen, opening the brown bag on the table and pulling out a bagel. “Shall I cream cheese this up for you?”

“What is that?”

“… It’s a bagel? We literally just talked about this Gilbert.”

“No, what is that?” Erin repeated, pointing to the metal briefcase on the counter.

“Oooooohhhhh. That’s a briefcase full of americium.”

“You put the radioactive isotopes next to the bagels?”

“… Not for very long.”

Erin gave her a look.

“Relaaaxxx, I used to eat in my lab all the time, and as you can see, I am perfectly a-okay.” Holtzmann gave her a thumbs-up and a wink, and Erin rolled her eyes.

“Well, I suppose that explains some of your erratic behavior.”

-/-

“Holtzy!” Patty swarmed the blonde upon seeing her, practically crushing her with a hug.

“Patty, not breathing,” Holtzmann managed to get out.

“Patty, let go of her, she can’t afford to lose any more brain cells,” Abby said.

The officer released the blonde before she said, “Man, I was so worried about you! After you got into that car, I thought maybe I’d made a horrible mistake. Where did you go?”

“Well, they put a hood over my head so I couldn’t see where I was going, but I could hear the sounds of traffic, so I knew we were somewhere with a lot of cars.”

The others stared at her.

“That literally does not help us. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but New York is full of cars,” Patty said.

“Maybe you didn’t hear me, I said a _lot_ of cars.”

Patty opened her mouth, perhaps to argue further, but Abby put a hand on her arm, shaking her head.

“You still haven’t told us who you met with,” Erin said.

_“Unless you want your merry band of friends to join you behind bars, you’ll forget this conversation ever happened.”_

_“Knowing my memory, I probably will forget. What did you want me to do again?”_

_“Cute, very cute. Just remember that you may be a genius, but even you can’t find a way to hide from me.”_

“I never saw them,” Holtzmann lied. “They kept the hood on the whole time.”

“Well why did they want to see you?”

“To make sure I really was who I said I was. My death was all over the news, after all. Can’t have imposters sullying my good name.”

“Well, did you get the americium at least?” Abby asked.

“Abby, Abby, Abby. It’s like you don’t trust me to run a simple illegal deal.”

“You forgot your shoes in the prison yard more than once,” Patty said.

“Why you gotta call me out like that?” Holtzmann reached down, picking up the metal briefcase. “All our hard work, right here ladies.”

“Where’s the other one?”

Holtzmann’s grin froze on her face. “What?”

“Well, I thought you said there would be two, and unless you have the second briefcase inside of that one—“

“I-I mean, I didn’t know exactly how many there would be—“

“Do you even check to make sure the americium was in there?”

Holtzmann paused a moment before she set the briefcase down, making to open it.

“Wait!” Erin quickly rushed in, slamming her hands on top of the lid and stopping Holtzmann from opening it. “This is highly radioactive; you can’t just open it without protective equipment.”

“Relax, I’ve done this plenty of times before—“

“No Holtzmann! Now I don’t know what kind of crazy life you lived before, but I am implementing a new rule, and that is no dealing with radioactive material without protective equipment.”

“Well that just sucks all the fun out of it.” Still, Holtzmann left the briefcase alone and straightened back up. “Look, it doesn’t matter how many briefcases there are; as long as we have enough, I can make it work. Just leave it to Holtzy.”

-/-

“How’s it going Holtzmann?”

The blonde paused, raising her yellow-tinted goggles onto her forehead. “Well, what we’ve got ourselves here is a gadget that’s untested and highly unstable, so I’d say it’s going swimmingly.” Holtzmann picked up a pair of thick gloves, handing them over to Abby. “You may want to put these on, just as a precaution, wouldn’t want you to lose a finger… or a hand. Which do you care about more?”

“Um… my hands.”

Holtzmann paused, flicking the end of her nose with her finger before she said, “You may want to double glove then.”

Abby nodded before she put on a second pair of gloves.

“Abby, really?” Erin said.

“Hey, any good scientist knows that you always wear your PPE,” Abby said.

“That’s personal protective equipment for those of you playing at home,” Holtzmann added.

“I know what PPE stands for,” Erin said.

“Hey Holtzmann, this doesn’t look like a PKE meter,” Abby said, picking up the gadget sitting on the workbench.

Holtzmann let out a high-pitched squawking noise before she took the gadget from Abby. “That is something else I’m working, not done yet.” Holtzmann picked up a different gadget, handing it to the brunette. “Here is your PKE meter.”

“Oh, it has more lights now.”

“No reason picking up ghost essence can’t be a dance party, you know what I’m saying?”

“I do, I do.” Abby glanced at Erin while still nodding and she mouthed, “I don’t.”

“Go ahead and flip that switch right there, and that should power it on up.”

Abby did so, and the PKE meter began to emit a low hum.

“So far so good,” Abby said.

“But how do we know if it’s working? There’s no ghost around here to test for,” Erin said.

“What about the Aldridge Mansion?” Holtzmann suggested.

“No, we saw Gertrude fly off, and I doubt she’ll go back,” Abby said.

The door to the garage suddenly opened, and Patty came walking in, plastic bag in hand. “Man, I found a great place for wings, and they even threw in free garlic knots, but I already ate like… three—“ Patty noticed that the three others were looking at her, and she immediately stopped. “You know what, I feel like I just walked in to some crazy plan, so I’m going to leave this food here, and I’m gonna go before I get roped into something I will regret.”

-/-

“How many times do I have to risk my job for these people? Here I am, thinking I finally have some grown-ass friends, I bring them food, and they turn around and pull this shit.” Patty let out a sigh as she made her way through the basement of Sing Sing. “Just bring this into the prison Patty. Check for ghosts Patty. You know what, maybe Patty doesn’t want to find another crazy, smoking head ghost. One was enough, thank you.”

The PKE meter in Patty’s hand suddenly started spinning, and the officer stopped, pulling her walkie-talkie off her belt.

“Hey, this thing just started spinning like crazy; should I be afraid of losing my hand?”

_“How fast is it spinning? Fast enough that you wouldn’t want to try and stick your tongue on it?”_

Patty made a face. “Who gave Holtzmann the radio? Holtzy, give the radio to someone more responsible!”

_“Erin, you’re supposed to be watching her—fine, here, give her another piece of taffy.”_

_“She’s already have four, don’t give her more—“_

“Hey, if y’all are done arguing, I’d appreciate it if we could focus on my problem.”

_“Sorry Patty,”_ Abby said. _“Do you see anything suspicious?”_

“Not yet, but I don’t know how much longer I want to stay to find out.”

_“You shouldn’t be afraid of a Class IV apparition—“_

“Look, you give me something to fight back with, and I’ll happily chase after some ghosts, but as it stands, my night stick doesn’t exactly get the job done.”

_“I got you, Patty-cake.”_

There was the sudden sound of a small motor, almost like an RC car, echoing off the walls, and soon enough, and small machine bumped into Patty’s leg, beeping out a little hello.

“Really Holtzy? This is your back-up?” Patty said.

_“Excuse me, I think you owe an apology to the Ecto-1.2. I fitted this little baby with a ghost trap. Oh yeah.”_

“So you’re going to use this to catch a ghost? Isn’t it a little…”

_“Impressive? Adorable? Ingenious?”_

“Small.”

_“Well, you know what they say about small packages.”_

“I’m afraid to ask, but what?”

_“… How the hell should I know?”_

Patty was about to say more, but a blue light her attention, and she quickly ducked behind a stack of boxes, the Ecto-1.2 following. “Please tell me you have a camera on that thing and you’re seeing what I’m seeing.”

_“Oh, I see it. Let’s catch us a ghost.”_

The Ecto-1.2 drove out from behind the boxes, driving up to the ghostly form of Ethel Rosenberg, beeping a few times. The ghost turned to look, and from where they were stationed outside, the other three could see her through the camera.

“A distinct human form!” Abby said, obviously beside herself.

“We have to get her back to the lab,” Erin said, just as excited as Abby; it had been a long time since she’d been this excited about anything, but they were so close now.

“Catching a ghost in three, two, ah ONE!” Holtzmann hit a button on her remote, opening the ghost trap on the Ecto-1.2.

Ethel seemed surprised by the sudden pull from the trap, and she let out an angry noise before she surged forward, electricity making contact with the small machine and sending it backwards.

“Okay, hold on, I can fix this!” Holtzmann said, frantically trying to regain control.

Ethel began to chase after the Ecto-1.2, and Holtzmann threw it in reverse, the camera still focused on the ghost as the small car raced backwards through the basement.

“Holtzmann, what happened, I thought you said this would work!”

“I guess I didn’t make the tractor beam strong enough, but I know what to do!”

The Ecto-1.2 suddenly collided with a solid wall, bringing it to dead stop and causing the camera to go dark just as Ethel flew overhead.  
“Patty, did you see where she went?” Abby asked.

_“She went right through the wall; she’s going to be the third scariest thing inside Sing Sing.”_


	11. Chapter 11

Holtzmann had obviously been struck by some kind of brainstorm because for the past few days, she had been absolutely impossible to control. Not that anyone could control Holtzmann on a good day, but the blonde had become very restless and had asked Erin incessantly to take her back to the workshop.

“Come on Er—“

“No, Holtzmann. You were out in public for longer than you should have been, and we don’t know if anyone recognized you. You need to wait a few days to make sure everything has calmed down.”

“But you could put me in a car truck, no one would see me there—“

“We are not putting you in a trunk.”

“Why not, I’ve done it before, it’s perfectly safe.”

Erin gave her a look. “I’m afraid to ask, but was it for fun or something else?”

“It was for _science_.”

The physicist shook her head. “I’m sorry, but you just have to wait.”

Holtzmann let out a long, dramatic sigh, and Erin rolled her eyes.

“Make yourself useful and help me fold the laundry.”

“Ooooo, a chance to catch a glimpse of Ms. Gilbert’s delicates?” Holtzmann approached with a grin, and Erin flushed.

“Leave my delicates alone.”

“All riiiiight.” Holtzmann picked up a shirt, not bothering to shake the wrinkles out before she rolled it up.

“What are you doing?!”

“I’m folding laundry—“

“This is not folding!” Erin took the shirt from her, unrolling it before she shook it out a few times. She then made sure the sides lined up before she folded it in half long ways, and then folded it in half in the middle. “This is how you properly fold a shirt.”

Holtzmann was staring at her, looking as though she may have fallen asleep behind her yellow-tinted glasses.  
“You’re very far away right now, aren’t you?”

Holtzmann let out a noise and shook her head as if snapping herself awake. “I’m sorry, I just dozed off; your way had a lot of steps to remember.”

“It’s three steps Holtzmann. You’re telling me you can build a remote control car with an attached ghost trap, but you can’t remember three steps to fold a shirt?”

“I have to save room in my brain for important things, and folding laundry is pretty low on that list.”

Erin sighed, shaking her head.

“Do you want me to keep helping you?”

“Are you going to actually help?”

“Hey, I do my best.”

-/-

“You know, it seems like we went through a lot of trouble for this americium, only to have it be used for one small device.”

Abby shrugged. “Maybe the PKE meter took a lot to make.”

Erin gave her friend a look. “Abby, did you see the size of that briefcase?”

“Hey, the size of the container doesn’t mean anything. My constant fight with Benny over the wonton soup proves my point—“

“Then why do you keep ordering it?”

“And let him win? Haha, no, I don’t think so.”

“You tell ‘em Abbs; we demand the soup!” Holtzmann added.

Abby pointed at the blonde before giving Erin a look, and the redhead let out a sigh, shaking her head.

“Besides, we have enough americium to level a small city,” Holtzmann added.

Erin and Abby exchanged a look before turning their attention to the blonde.

“How much did you use for the PKE meter?” Erin asked.

“A few grams maybe?”

“That’s all?”

Holtzmann looked up from where she had been stripping wire. “What? Was I only supposed to ask for enough americium for the PKE meter?”

Abby and Erin could only stare at that.

“You guys didn’t actually think I needed that much americium for one gadget, did you?” Holtzmann let out a laugh. “Oh, my sweet friends, I have so many plans.”

The redhead rolled her eyes. “I really shouldn’t be surprised.”

“You’re starting to understand me, Gilbert.”

“I don’t know if anyone can ever understand you.”

The blonde stuck her tongue out between her teeth before she continued with the wire.

Erin looked down at the workbench covered with scrap metal, and Abby could tell that something was on her friend’s mind.

“Did you ask her yet?” Abby asked, her voice low.

“Ask who about what?”

“You know, your ‘accident’.”

Erin almost scowled at Abby. “I haven’t even thought about it.”

“Careful, your nose might grow.”

“Don’t you have someplace to be?”

Abby paused for a moment before she shook her head. “Nope.”

“I think you do.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Think harder.”

“What are you trying to do, it’s like you want me to leave or something—“

The look on Erin’s face said it all.

“Ahhhh, I gotcha. Okay, I’ll go, but don’t expect me to stay out for too long. Keep that in mind in case any more ‘accidents’ occur—“

“Goodbye Abby.”

Abby made her way downstairs, leaving the engineer and Erin alone.

After a long pause, the redhead finally mustered her courage enough to say, “Hey Holtzmann?”

“Eyah?”

“Do you remember... the other night?”

“You’ll have to be a bit more specific than that; the ol’ memory is a little hit and miss right now, you know what I mean?”

“The other night at my apartment, after we came back from the robot fight.

Holtzmann paused, scratching her head with her pliers. “Ahhh maybe. Is that when I vowed to punch old lady ghost in the face?”

“Yes, that night.”

“Is that what you wanted me to remember, because I promise I won’t forget that. I am going to punch that ghost in the face for you, Er Bear.”

Holtzmann was obviously not going to make this easy, and Erin considered just letting it go, but she knew that her brain would not accept that.

“We kissed, Holtzmann. Don’t tell me you don’t remember that.”

Holtzmann froze, though she didn’t look at the redhead. “… I remember.”

“Well, are you going to talk about it?”

“I don’t know what there is to say. I mean, you pretty much summed it up in two words: we kissed.”

“We can’t just leave it at that!”

“Why?”

“You don’t want to know why it happened? You aren’t the least bit curious as to why we suddenly kissed after not expressing any sort of romantic interest in each other?”

Holtzmann shrugged.

“Holtzmann!”

“Whaaaaaat?”

“Doesn’t this bother you?!”

“Why would it bother me? I kissed an amazing, beautiful woman; I’m the opposite of bothered, which as you know, is unbothered.”

Erin stopped, not having expected such.

“Does it bother you?” the blonde asked, finally looking at the physicist.

“Well, I… I wouldn’t say bother…”

“What would you say then?”

Erin paused, trying to organize her thoughts and choose the right words. “I just… I want to understand… I’m not someone who acts on impulse…”

“You’re not someone who would kiss a convicted criminal.”

“I didn’t say that—“

“No, I said it, and I get it.” Holtzmann looked back at the wire, stripping it a little more aggressively than necessary. “I don’t know why it happened, okay? You had just finished telling me something emotional and personal, and I don’t know, you just seemed like you needed it.”

“… So that’s it? You kissed me because you thought I needed it?” Erin wasn’t sure what she had been expecting, but it wasn’t that. If anything, it almost made her feel worse. If that was the only reason Holtzmann had kissed her… then it meant she had no feelings for the redhead at all.

“I guess.” Holtzmann looked back at the physicist. “I didn’t realize it would haunt you like this; I guess I assume things just roll off other people like they do me.”

Erin let out a sigh. “No, it’s fine… I’m glad we talked about this.”

-/-  
Holtzmann had lied. Lying was not exactly her style; she often exaggerated, or said things that were so crazy, they sounded like lies (but were in fact truths), but outright lying was not something she was a fan of. So when she had told Erin that she had thought nothing of their kiss, she had been lying.

Holtzmann had thought of that kiss every day since it had happened. Kissing Erin had never been something she planned; then again, Holtzmann rarely ever planned anything. She was, as many had pointed out before, the definition of impulsive, and that was what kissing Erin had been. She had been acting on an impulse, and now, all she wanted to do was explore every inch of Erin’s skin with her mouth—

The engineer’s face turned red at the thought, despite the fact that she was lying on Erin’s couch, alone. The redhead had gone to bed a few hours ago, and Holtzmann was sure that she was asleep, so really, there was no need for her to feel so embarrassed.

_Yes, I’m quite the catch, aren’t I? A deranged, feral woman convicted of manslaughter. How could she resist?_

Holtzmann let out a sigh, covering her eyes with her arm. The images in her head persisted, no matter how hard she tried to push them away. In Sing Sing, it had been easy to keep from… well… touching herself; after all, she knew they were always watching her, and there were some things that even she liked to keep private.

_God, this is ridiculous. I better just get it over with or I’ll be up all night._

She really had no other choice; the quicker she dealt with it, the better. Holtzmann let out a sigh, closing her eyes tighter as she slid a hand down under the waistband of her underwear. She slid a finger through the wetness there before she began to rub circles into her clit, which was far more sensitive than expected; obviously three years of neglect had had a greater effect than anticipated. The blonde had to hold back as a gasp as the first sparks of pleasure coursed through her, and she bit her bottom lip.

_Have to stay quiet, or this will be far more embarrassing than necessary._

Holtzmann continued to rub circles on her clit, increasing the pressure a bit and biting her lip harder as she passed over a particularly sensitive spot. In her mind, she was holding herself above the redhead, gently sliding a finger inside of her. Erin had her own finger inside the blonde, and they were pleasuring each other simultaneously, both building and getting closer to their peaks—

“Holtzmann?”

The blonde let out a gasp, rolling off the couch and hitting the floor with a thud. She let out a swear as she pulled her hand from her pants, lying very still as her heart pounded in her chest.

“Holtzmann, are you okay?” Erin asked sleepily from where she was standing in the hallway. “I heard some noises like you were in pain.”

“I’m fine,” Holtzmann managed to get out, sweat beading on her hairline. She had been teetering on the edge when she’d been interrupted, and now she was doing her best to keep from either orgasming on the floor or letting out a yell of frustration.

“Did you fall off the couch?”

“I like the floor…”

Erin paused a few seconds longer, which felt like an eternity for the engineer.

“Okay, well… good night then,” the physicist said.

“Mmmyeah g’night.” Holtzmann waited until she heard the bedroom door close before she pulled herself back up onto the couch, trembling slightly.

_Okay, wrap up here before she actually catches you._

Holtzmann slid her hand back down, rubbing her clit a bit quicker and feeling herself beginning to build again.

“Come on,” the blonde muttered between clenched teeth.

After a bit longer, she finally felt herself go over the edge, and Holtzmann’s mouth opened in a silent moan, her body jerking and tensing as pleasure coursed through her. Once it passed, the engineer lay still for a minute or two, trying to get her breathing back under control.

_Okay… okay it’s over… that has to be the only time… I can’t do this again._

-/-

“Morning.”

Holtzmann swallowed hard, keeping her gaze on the empty coffee mug in front of her. She couldn’t look at Erin, not after last night… it would make her too ashamed and too excited. “Hey.”

Erin’s brow furrowed slightly at Holtzmann’s behavior. “Are you all right?”

“… I wasn’t sure if you would get mad if I used the coffee maker.”

“Holtzmann, you know I don’t mind if you use the appliances; I just don’t appreciate when you try to ‘tweak’ them.”

The blonde let out a noise of affirmation, her gaze remaining on her coffee mug.

“Holtzmann, is everything else all right? You’re acting very… un- Holtzmann like.”

“So I have to act crazy all the time for you to believe that I’m okay? It’s so impossible that Jillian Holtzmann could actually be lucid and calm for once?”

Erin was taken aback by the sudden snapping, and she said, “I didn’t mean it like that… I’m sorry if I offended you.”

Holtzmann looked back down at the coffee mug, knowing that Erin hadn’t done anything to warrant the sharp response. It was her, she was the problem… she had thought that touching herself last night would dispel all those feelings, but it had only made them worse.

“I’ll start your coffee,” Erin added, turning away and beginning to load the Keurig.

“Erin, wait.”

The redhead paused; Holtzmann never used her actual name. The physicist turned back around, seeing that the blonde had stood up, looking as though something were on her mind.

“What is it?” Erin asked.

Holtzmann’s gaze wandered, and she reached up to fiddle with her earlobe. All her courage had left her, and all she managed to get out was, “It’s just… it’s about to be that time of the month again, you know? I always dreaded it in Sing Sing… they made it really hard for me to… well… I barely had access to pads, let alone pain medication.”

“Oh…” Having her period was hard enough; Erin couldn’t imagine trying to go through that in prison. “Is… is there a particular brand you like? I can pick something up for you later today.”

Holtzmann shook her head. “No… anything is fine…”

Erin nodded. “I… I’m sorry for what you went through at Sing Sing, Holtzmann.”

“It’s okay; it was my own fault.”

“Not all of it; you still deserved to be treated like a human being.”

Holtzmann smiled slightly. “Thanks Gilbert. I know I complain about being cooped up here, but you gotta believe me when I say that I’d so much rather be here than back in that soul-crushing place.”

“Well, I’ll take that as a compliment.”


	12. Chapter 12

The sound of inmates hollering taunts and chanting caught Patty’s attention, and she looked up from where she’d been working to see that the transport bus had just pulled in.

“New inmates,” her co-worker said from where he was standing beside her.

“Man, why do they have to bring them when everyone is out in the yard? It’s like they want to get them all riled up,” Patty said, shaking her head.

“Come on, we better help get them inside for processing.”

Patty stood up and followed her co-worker out to the bus, watching as the other officer began unloading the inmates off the bus. Her gaze suddenly fell on a familiar face, and her heart skipped a beat as a cold sweat fell over her.

“Oh, shit…”

-/-

“Hello twitchy.”

Charlie looked up from where he’d been sitting on the bed in his cell, and he jumped upon seeing Patty. “You… you’re the bodyguard—“

“I’m gonna stop you right there.” Patty had never really been big on inmate intimidation; she could do it when necessary, but it was not her normal tactic. In this case, she knew she had to make an exception. “Here’s how it’s going to be: you’re going to stay quiet about your deal with Shadowcat, and about seeing me. You keep it all to yourself, you don’t even think about breathing a word of it to anyone. You do that, and I can make life here easier for you. However, if you start blabbing, I’ll make sure you’re labeled as a snitch. You know what happens to snitches inside prison, don’t you Charlie?”

The inmate nodded dumbly.

“Good. I’m glad we had this little chat.”

-/-

“What are you building Holtzmann?”

“I’m sorry, but you’ll have to wait until everyone is present,” the engineer replied, awkwardly draping herself over her current invention.

Abby made a face. “Okay, you’re about 50 pounds from being able to hide something of that size.”

“Well it would help me if you would close your eyes then.”

Abby rolled her eyes, but left Holtzmann alone, going over to where Erin was sitting in one of the booths, scrolling on her laptop. “What did you computer do to you to deserve being looked at that way?”

Erin let out a noise of acknowledgment, only having half heard her friend.

The brunette slid into the booth beside her, looking at what Erin was researching and seeing that it was news about Holtzmann. “Erin, come on, you have to stop obsessing over this—“

“I just want to make sure no one saw her—“

“If they did, we would have heard about it by now.” Abby reached over and began typing into the search bar.

“Abby—“

“Here, watch this cat video. Look at him, he’s trying to eat that cookie.”

“Oh I love that one!” Holtzmann called before she let out a laugh. “Those darn cats.”

Erin made a face. “I don’t want to watch cats; just let me worry in peace—“

“Erin, you can’t always be worried that bad news is going to come walking through the door—“

“Okay y’all, we got a problem,” Patty said, entering the room.

Erin gave Abby a pointed look.

“This proves nothing,” the brunette said.

“Patty-cake, so good to see you,” Holtzmann said with a grin. “You shouldn’t call yourself a problem, I love seeing your beautiful face.”

“Your friend Charlie is currently locked up in Sing Sing,” Patty said.

The grin slid from Holtzmann’s face. “Oh…”

“Oh shit is more like it.”

“Who is this Charlie?” Erin asked, getting up and approaching the two. “Why are we concerned about this?”

“Charlie is the dealer we met with,” Holtzmann replied.

“So wait; he saw both you and Patty?” Abby said.

“Oh, this is bad, this is so bad.” Erin’s brain had kicked into active panic mode, and the physicist began to pace. “I told you it was a bad idea to send her out, now someone else knows she’s alive—“

“Hey, I’m at risk here too, thanks for your concern,” Patty interrupted. “And don’t worry, I already let him know that he should keep his mouth shut.”

“Oh good, now we’ve moved to actively threatening people—“

“I just reminded him what happens to prisoners who are labeled snitches; I never physically threatened him.”

“Snitches get stitches,” Holtzmann supplied.

“Well that doesn’t sound so bad,” Abby said.

“They actually get shanked and die, but that doesn’t sound as catchy,” Holtzmann said.

“That seems a little extreme.”

“Oh, you two never would have survived in prison,” Holtzmann said with an amused noise. “But now that we are all present and accounted for, I can reveal my new invention to you. Brace yourself ladies because we are going to catch… a ghost!” Holtzmann slid to the side, thrusting her arms out to the side to suggest “ta-da”.

“What are we looking at?” Patty asked.

“It’s a ghost trap.”

“It looks like a cart.”

Holtzmann let out a long, dramatic sigh. “It all works together to become a ghost trap. See, I used the americium to power this bad boy.” Holtzmann picked up a long rod with a trigger that was attached to the cart. “It’s a tractor beam. We hit a ghost with this and deploy the trap and POW, game over, we win.”

“Where’s the trap?”

Holtzmann detached a circular canister from the cart. “Right here. It comes with a handy foot pedal so all we have to do is slide the trap under our ghost, step on the pedal, and BAM, we win again.”

“Why do I have a feeling that this is not going to be as easy as you think it is?” Patty asked, crossing her arms.

“Of course it will. We just have to sneak this and ourselves into the basement of Sing Sing, catch our ghost, and then we’re out of there, and no one’s the wiser.”

“Oh, that’s all, of course. What a foolproof plan,” Erin said, shaking her head.

“You could say it’s so good, it’s scary,” Holtzmann said with a grin.

Abby laughed while Erin crossed her arms, giving the engineer a look. “Are we going to hear a ghost joke every day?”

“Not with that attitude.”

-/-

“All right, now we just need to wait for Ethel to show up, and we are gonna catch ourselves a ghost.”

“Yeah, well, she better show up soon. The longer we’re here, the greater the chance of someone discovering you,” Patty muttered.

The PKE meter in Abby’s hand suddenly started spinning, and the brunette stopped. “I have actually never witnessed this myself.”

“Abby.” Erin gripped her friend’s arm, and the brunette looked up to see the form of Ethel Rosenberg beginning to appear in front of them. The incident from the theater suddenly came rushing back to Erin, and she fought to push it from her mind.

“Holtzy, get that trap ready,” Patty said.

“Got it.” The blonde detached the trap from the cart beside them, sliding it forward so that it was almost underneath Ethel. A foot pedal popped out as well, and Holtzmann placed her boot on it lightly. “Oh, I almost forgot the most important part.” The engineer moved forward, and Erin suddenly found the long rod being placed into her arms.

“Holtzmann, what—“

“It’s just like a camera, Er Bear: point and shoot. Make sure you hit the ghost though; if you hit one of us, all of atoms will implode. Same will happen if this backfires, but that probably won’t happen.”

“What?!”

Holtzmann had already retreated back to the cart, and Erin turned to face the ghost just in time to see Ethel lunge for her. The redhead let out a yell before she pulled the trigger, causing the rod to emit an orange beam, which wrapped around Ethel, holding her back. The ghost struggled against the beam, arms clawing for the redhead.

“Holtzmann, open the trap!”

“Opening trap in three, two—“

“HOLTZMANN!”

“One!” The blonde stomped on the foot pedal.

Nothing happened. Ethel continued to struggle against the beam, and Erin’s arms were beginning to shake from the force.

“Holtzmann, open it!” Abby said.

“I’m trying! It should have opened!” The engineer stomped on the pedal again, but the trap remained closed. “Come on you piece of shit—“ Holtzmann picked the pedal up, trying to figure out what the problem was. She heard a cry, and looked up to see that Erin had fallen back, fighting to keep Ethel away.

“We gotta get out of here, so grab her and let’s go!” Patty said. She and Abby moved forward to grab Erin’s arms, beginning to drag the redhead away. Holtzmann dropped the pedal before she grabbed another gadget from the cart, putting her hand inside of it.

Erin for her own part was doing her best to stave off a panic attack. Ethel was far closer than she found comfortable, and she could see the detail in the woman’s face—

_“You’d better watch out!”_

No, no, not here, not when she needed to be in full control of her senses. Her arms were shaking from the effort of holding the rod, though she knew it was the only thing keeping Ethel back.

“Come on snake, let’s rattle!” Holtzmann came flying out of nowhere, throwing her fist forward and colliding with Ethel’s face. There was a bright flash of light, followed by the ghost letting out a screech and a shower of ectoplasm.

Erin spit out the ectoplasm that had gotten into her mouth, and she dropped the rod as Abby and Patty set her down.

“Erin, are you okay?” Abby asked, wiping the ectoplasm from the physicist’s eyes.

“I don’t know yet...”

“Erin!” That was Holtzmann, and the redhead hesitantly opened her eyes to see the engineer standing in front of her, looking concerned.

“Holtzmann… did you actually find a way to punch a ghost in the face?” Erin asked.

Holtzmann grinned crookedly. “I told you I would, though ah, the device may have been a bit more unstable than I predicted.”

“’Come on snake, let’s rattle’? Did you seriously use 50’s slang?” Patty said, crossing her arms.

“I figured it fit.”

“Holtzmann, your hand,” Erin said. The blonde’s hand looked badly burned, and had several oozing wounds.

“Oh, yeah, it looks pretty gnarly huh?” Holtzmann looked down at the hand in question. “Funny thing is, I don’t really feel it right now. I think I might be in shock actually, so if I pass out, don’t nobody be alarmed.”

-/-

“Holtzmann, come on, you need to rest.”

“I’m fine.”

Erin let out a sigh, approaching the blonde. “Holtzmann, you nearly lost your hand punching a ghost in the face.”

“I know, that was awesome right?”

“At least wait until after you’ve eaten? Abby will be back soon with our food—“

“I’m sorry.”

Erin paused, caught off guard by the sudden apology. “For what?”

Holtzmann kept her gaze down, finding it hard to look at the physicist. “You know… for what happened earlier…” The engineer didn’t want to admit that she had been reckless, and had put Erin in harm’s way, and for what? To show off? To prove how smart she was? To get validation, to show them that it had been worth the risk to break her out of prison?

“It’s okay Holtzmann… I should be thanking you anyway. Punching that ghost probably saved us… and you risked your hand to do it.”

Holtzmann smiled slightly, looking down at her now bandaged hand. “I was never really attached to this hand anyway.” The engineer looked back at the cart, her gaze falling on a loose wire. Her brow furrowed, and she leaned to investigate, finding an empty socket on the back of the cart. It became apparent then what had gone wrong, and Holtzmann could feel her temper beginning to boil.

“Okay, I finally have food,” Abby said coming into the room. “It took them forever to prepare the soup, which I don’t understand because I still only have one wonton—“

“Which one of you did it?”

Abby stopped at the interruption, and the three looked over at Holtzmann.

“Did what?” Erin asked.

“Which one of you disconnected the flux capacitor?”

All three women looked confused, which only made Holtzmann angrier.

“Holtzmann, what are you talking about—“

“The flux capacitor! This wire, right here!” the engineer said, holding up said wire and shaking it. “It was disconnected, which was why the trap didn’t activate when I stepped on the pedal, so which one of you did it?”

“Maybe it fell out—“ Erin began to suggest.

Holtzmann suddenly lunged for the redhead, and Patty quickly moved to seize the blonde, holding her back.

“Holtzy, no!”

The engineer let out a feral noise, and Patty moved her arms into a stress position above her head, holding her there despite her struggling.

“We can do this all day Jillian, and we both know who wins. Now calm down.”

The blonde let out a long, low noise from the back of throat, still struggling.

“You both might want to go; I can calm her down if the aggravating factors are removed,” Patty said.

Erin considered leaving, but as she looked at Holtzmann, all she could see was a scared woman trying to survive in Sing Sing. The redhead found herself moving forward, despite Patty’s protests, and she touched Holtzmann’s face gently.

The engineer flinched at the touch, but Erin persisted, placing her hand flat against Holtzmann’s face.

“Holtzmann, please, listen… you’re not in Sing Sing anymore. You don’t have to fight us…”

Holtzmann had focused on Erin now, and her struggling lessened.

“I promise, none of us touched the cart; we all want to catch a ghost. We wouldn’t have sabotaged you,” Erin continued.

Holtzmann appeared to have calmed down by now, and Erin looked up at Patty. The officer released the engineer, and Holtzmann let out a sigh.

“I just don’t understand how it could have happened… I know it was connected when we got to Sing Sing, I looked it over before we went in.” Holtzmann returned to her machine, looking it over for what seemed like the hundredth time.

“Accidents happen; no one is blaming you for this,” Abby said. “Now come on, let’s eat. I always think better on a full stomach.”

“I’m not hungry,” Holtzmann muttered before she stalked into the bathroom, closing the door and locking it behind her. She let out a sigh, letting her head fall against the door before she punched it angrily.

A surge of pain went through her hand, and the engineer realized she had used her injured hand. She looked down to see that some of the wounds had reopened, and blood was beginning to leak through the bandage.

_“Ooo, that looks like it hurts.”_

Holtzmann paused at the voice, looking around the bathroom. “Don’t you have better things to do than spy on me?”

_“Of course; believe me, I don’t want to be spending my time babysitting you. The sooner you start on that machine, the sooner we can both get back to doing what we want to do.”_

“I said I would do it; the more you pressure me, the longer it will take.”

_“Yeah, that’s not going to work for us. The longer you take, the more ‘accidents’ there will be’.”_

Holtzmann’s eyes widened at that. “You. You sabotaged my ghost trap!”

_“Sabotaged is such an ugly word.”_

“Listen, you pasty faced specter—“

Holtzmann suddenly felt an unseen force make contact with her stomach, and the blonde doubled over, the wind knocked out of her.

_”The clock is ticking, Dr. Holtzmann. If I were you, I’d put that eccentric brain to work.”_


End file.
